The Advocate: November 2020 Edition

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THE ADVOCATE 1

ENVIRONMENT

MENTAL HEALTH

Marine groups call for end of shark nets as whales move south

Movember: The most important Mo you’ll ever grow

Page 12

Page 19

NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA’S NOT-FOR-PROFITS & CHARITIES

NOVEMBER 2020

BEYOND THE MONEY

EXCLU-

THE REAL VALUE OF CHARITIES IN A CRISIS

A volunteer for Red Cross Australia consoles a bushfire victim in Somervile, Victoria Credit Red Cross / Matt Lyne

REPORTS, P 3-8

YOUR ADVERT GOES HERE, YES?COVID-19. Frontline providers, of peak bodies – including the

DAVID CROSBIE, CEO EXCLUSIVE within the current context, shalCommunity Council for Australia low questions can sometimes be hat price do you useful. put on the contriThe charities sector employs bution of chariover 1.3 million Australians, ties to our com10% of the Australian workmunities through 2020, impacted force. Knowing and using this by bushfires and COVID-19 measure of economic activity economic slowdowns? proved a very useful fact early It is a shallow question, on in helping frame the governreally. In a world where we have ment’s response to COVID-19. commodified our feelings and The initial announcements about likes, monetarised sharing our JobKeeper and other major views, and each of us has been government initiatives talked defined as individual economic about the entitlement of eligible units serving the greater Austrabusinesses to these schemes. lian economy, we do sometimes Nowhere were the term charities ask shallow questions. And we or not-for-profits seen or heard. should acknowledge that even Collective lobbying from a range

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Community Council for Australia and the Charities Crisis Cabinet - ensured governments recognised the value of supporting employment in the charities sector. Not only was JobKeeper eligibility changed to ensure charities were included, but significant concessions were provided to enable charities to satisfy a lower threshold for turnover loss tests. The result is that over 320,000 charity workers received JobKeeper.

Governments have also increased support in critical areas for emergency aid charities through both the bushfires and

emergency relief charities like OzHarvest have received additional funding, as have some domestic violence services, homeless services, health services (needing additional PPE etc.) and others.

Unfortunately, the greatest value of charities during a crisis goes largely unacknowledged, and often unsupported.

In a recent discussion with Major General Andrew Hocking from the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, I asked about how and why some communities seem to have recovered better than others post the bushfire

disasters and given what we know about recovery, how their agency might be supporting greater community resilience.

We know from previous disasters that the critical aspect of both coping and rebuilding during difficult times is the degree to which people feel they have value, that they belong, that they are connected.

We also know that it is not always the more readily identifiable groups that foster this sense of community.

In one community, what is catalytic to community support can be a sporting club, performing arts (continued page 2)

2 THE ADVOCATE

Contact:

OUR STORY

Editor: Ryan Fritz Email: editor@theadvocate.org.au Advertise with us:

The Advocate, founded in 2014, is here to help promote the causes of not-for-profits and charities Australia’s changemakers. We’re passionate journalists writing for positive change..

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THE ADVOCATE TEAM Content:

Page 1-3: Black Summer Pages 4-5: COVID-19 Page 6-9: Health Page 10-11: Community Page 12-15: Environment Page 16-17: International Page 18-19: Opinion Page 20: Save Ningaloo Page 21-22: Sport

EDITOR

DUPUTY EDITOR

Ryan started The Advocate in 2014 to provide not-for-profits and charities another media platform to tell their worthwhile news stories and opinion pieces effortlessly.

In 2020, Ryan formed a team of volunteer journalists to help spread even more high-quality stories from the third sector.

He also has over 10 years experience as a media and communications professional for not-for-profits and charities.

Sarah Jacob is a journalist and editor and is currently The Advocate’s Deputy Editor.

She has written for a range of print and online publications across Australia and internationally with a focus on the environment and human rights.

Previously she worked in conservation science and protected area management, and has completed postgraduate degrees in journalism and marine science.

Ryan Fritz

Continued from frontpage.

Sarah Jacob

The following writers are regular contributors to The Advocate: JOURNALIST & OPINION EDITOR

Georgia Franc JOURNALIST

Emma Lennon JOURNALIST

Georgia Benjamin JOURNALIST

Kathy Kim JOURNALIST

Desiree Lobo

THE REAL VALUE OF CHARITIES

group, pre-school parents, church congregation, Landcare group, knitting circle, walking group, the local market store holders, a Lions Club, or just the regulars at any particular community activity. The beauty of community building is in the diversity. The challenge is that most people outside of the community do not experience it, cannot know what matters or how it works to link individuals, families and communities together.

Major General Hocking not only agreed, but suggested that as an agency they were now looking at the whole issue of community resilience, not so much in terms of physical infrastructure – roads, bridges, water supplies, petrol and power can all be mapped and accounted for – but social infrastructure. Their observation is that social infrastructure is the critical component of resilience. This makes sense to all of us who have worked with communities, but this understanding is not always front and centre in a crisis.

We tend to focus on physical infrastructure and economic activity, both of which are clearly fundamental to recovery from a crisis. But it is social infrastructure that not only rebuilds communities, it rebuilds individual, family and community capacity to attend to all the other challenges. When Save the Children set up special childcare centres in four bushfire affected areas early this year, all with access to specialist child trauma support if needed, they enabled parents and carers to do what they needed to do, knowing

their children were being properly cared for and supported. They also inadvertently provided another important benefit - the chance to interact with other parents in similar situations dropping off and picking up their children. Every parent knows how important this would be – but what price do we put on this support?

Where does childcare sit in the priorities of recovery agencies and governments?

The research is irrefutable – as if it needed confirming – discussing problems with people in similar circumstances reduces stress. A problem shared is a problem that becomes more manageable. Charities are fundamentally about bringing people together to support each other, play together, work together, be together, belong, be valued. Important as these things are in our day to day life, in any crisis they become critical.

For anyone concerned about preparedness, about resilience, about communities and crisis, one of the best things we can all do is in some way connect with others, maybe even support a local charity. We can all donate time or money, or go along to events, participate, join, belong. The more we do this, the stronger our communities will be, and the better prepared all of us will be to deal with a crisis.

There are over 50,000 charities in Australia turning over more than $150 billion in income each year. Far from being separate economic units, each is contributing in a much more important way to enable us all to belong and to recover in times of need, even if not directly.

In most of our lifetimes, we have never seen the challenges we have experienced in 2020. At the same time, never have so many charities stepped forward often well beyond their usual activities.

Some might seek to count the collective cost of such activities, to put a dollar price on the economic benefits, but it would at best be a very challenging and imprecise exercise.

The bottom line is that only a myopic fool would fail to see how important charities are to our resilience and our recovery. Their work has been invaluable to so many people and communities.

The Federal government has provided important support to charities through JobKeeper and other initiatives, but bigger challenges lie ahead. If we are to build back better, charities will need to play a major role, and that can only happen if governments, business, communities and individuals make the effort to acknowledge their value and support their activities.

David Crosbie is CEO of the Community Council for Australia and has spent more than 20 years as CEO of significant not-for-profit organisations.

Copyright - The Advocate Published by Helping Hands Media Published bi-monthly. Edition 1 Melbourne, Australia, ~ Nov. 2020

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THE ADVOCATE 3

BLACK SUMMER

$177 MILLION DISPERSED TO BUSHFIRE VICTIMS

The Salvation Army’s long road to recovery

RYAN FRITZ

Red Cross Australia

RYAN FRITZ

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The Salvation Army

Jack helped his dad Swampy to apply for Red Cross grants shortly after their home in Cobargo, NSW, burnt down. Swampy and the family are living on their land while they rebuild slowly. Credit: Red Cross / Aysha Leo.

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ine months into Red Cross Australia’s bushfire recovery program, the humanitarian organisation has disbursed well over $177 million of donations to Australians affected by the fires during our Black Summer.

The report, which was released in October, highlighted that 722 additional people had applied for a bushfire grant for the first time since July. Some of these people had been living off the grid in remote locations, without a fixed address and with little access to the internet. The report also stated that others felt that there were people more deserving of the many than they were.

“Since COVID-19 restrictions eased in regional areas, recovery officers have been working hard to help people apply for the support they are entitled to,” the Red Cross report said.

Red Cross have continued to work with state and territory governments and other partners to find people who have not yet applied. They have also extended closing dates for all grants to 31 December, 2020.

Accommodation pods Red Cross have partnered with the NSW Government, the Minderoo Foundation, and the Salvation Army to expand the successful accommodation pod program for people in NSW who lost their homes in the bushfires.

Red Cross is contributing $2m to provide around 40-50 additional pods. These pods come with power, bathroom and cooking facilities and bunk

beds, and enable people to stay on their properties while they rebuild their homes.

Available Grants A new grant will be available from late October for people who are still in ongoing financial hardship and face additional challenges with their recovery.

Some of these people will have received existing grants but are still struggling financially.

Individual payments will differ, based on assessments and each person’s needs.

“Every day, people write in and tell us how bushfire grants are helping them,” the Red Cross said.

“For some, it’s replacing precious or valuable things that were lost. For others, it’s finding a safe place to live or making urgent repairs to their homes. But what we hear most often is that they feel like people remember and care about them.

“It can take some time for people to feel ready to apply for assistance. An amazing 722 people came forward for the first time between July and September. Many of them were living off the grid, and recovery officers have been searching for them and supporting them,” the reported added.

Red Cross have extended all grants to 31 December, 2020.

The million dollar question: How much is going to administration support costs?

Up to 10 cents in each dollar will go towards the real and necessary costs of our response. This helps us get emergency grants to people quickly and securely,

prevent fraud, raise funds, collect and analyse information, and comply with the legal obligations of handling funds. Every agency has these costs, which are sometimes covered by government or corporate donors.

Red Cross support costs so far have been 4 cents in the dollar for every dollar donated. Most of these support costs are incurred up front to meet immediate needs.

SEARCH FOR NEW CEO STARTS

Red Cross announced in September that CEO Judy Slatyer stepped down from her position after 5 years and left the organisation on 18 September.

Red Cross President Mr Ross Pinney thanked the “much-loved” CEO as she stewarded the organisation through the “external challenges” of 2020.

A global search for a replacement CEO has begun, a process likely to take several months.

ublic commentary surrounding the release of funds raised from The Salvation Army’s Bushfire Disaster Appeal, has, at times, been loud and relentless.

The Salvation Army has been working actively to address these concerns, while maintaining a firm focus on helping those impacted by the bushfires and seeking support.

One of the common themes that have emerged from the public has been around why all funds aren’t distributed immediately to those affected.

The Salvation Army in Australia has been responding to disasters and other crises since 1887 and has learned much over that time about what true recovery looks like. While every event is unique, one thing all events have in common is the trail of destruction that follows, which often means years of working together with communities to bring about restoration.

When the Bushfire Disaster Appeal was launched on 9 November 2019, The Salvation Army knew that its services and programs would be needed for the long haul.

“What we know from responding to disasters over many years is that people’s needs change over time,” says Salvation Army Secretary for Mission, Lieutenant-Colonel Lyn Edge. “Immediate needs might be for accommodation, food or fuel.

As time progresses and people are looking to the next

stage of recovery, the costs are often more substantial. This phase of longer-term recovery and rebuilding is the most expensive and it is important we are there to help people during this period.”

Those rebuilding homes may be faced with holdups such as insurance claims, drafting plans, applying for permits, contracting builders and clearing rubble from their land. Those living in rental properties destroyed by fires must find new accommodation in communities suffering multiple property losses.

“Our role [during this time] is to help people cover living expenses as they get back on their feet,” says Lyn. As many still struggle to come to terms with what they have been through and what they have lost, it can often be difficult to see a clear path forward towards recovery. For some, that path is only now revealing itself.

“We were talking to someone last week who said that just after the fires hit, they weren’t sure what they wanted to do and so had not asked for help earlier in the year. However, recently they have decided to re-start their small business and we were able to help with that.

“There is another group of people who are only now asking for help for the first time as they take stock of what they’ve lost and what it’s going to take to fully rebuild. This is why we have funds committed towards longer term recovery.”

To date, The Salvation Army has assisted almost 12,000 Australians impacted by the 20192020 Black Summer bushfires.

More than $21.6 million has already been distributed, with $18 million in additional grants being dispersed now and over the next three years.

To learn more about how the bushfire Disaster Appeal funds are distributed please visit: https://bit.ly/2EQMSMj

Vinnies first to render help after destruction

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St Vincent de Paul Society

he Vinnies Bushfire Appeal was first opened in response to catastrophic bushfires in northern NSW in late September 2019, and later expanded to become a national appeal to support communities affected by the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires across Queensland, NSW, the ACT, Victoria and South Australia.

Thanks to generous donations from members of the public, businesses and philanthropists, $22.9 million was raised to support people who suffered devastating damage to their homes and their livelihoods from the fires.

Vinnies has disbursed more than $16.7 million in Vinnies Bushfire Appeal funds, supporting more than 4,300 households across Queensland, NSW, the ACT, Victoria and South Australia. In the particularly hard-hit South Coast region of NSW, approximately $6.6 million has been distributed to date.

In partnership with the Australian Government, we also helped to distribute $1,000 Emergency Relief Fund grants in Queensland, NSW, the ACT and South Australia, ensuring these funds could reach those who needed them most.

4 THE ADVOCATE

COVID-19 COMMUNTIY

HEALTH

Young Aussies still feel strain of pandemic UNICEF Australia

Support-seeking reduces stress and improves coping

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Beyond Blue

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ix months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of young people (aged 13 to 17) in Australia are doing better than they had expected they would be at this point, new national research by UNICEF Australia has found.

However, there are a significant proportion continuing to experience adverse impacts in key aspects of their lives and wellbeing, while a small minority are struggling and may be at risk of slipping below the radar without special attention.

On one hand, the research indicates that young people now have the benefit of lived experience of the pandemic and responses, as well as access to a wealth of information about both, which they are discerning about engaging with.

These are two things that appear to be assisting them to adapt and build aspects of resilience, regardless of whether they have largely remained in lockdown (Melbourne) or not.

For example, though young people generally consider themselves better able to cope (55% rate their ability to do so as ‘good’ in July-August compared to 45% in April), and there was no improvement for those in Melbourne (44%). In consultations, many young people, including those in Melbourne, talked about taking practical actions to manage and adapt to their circumstances – an important element in fostering a sense of agency during challenging times.

On the other hand, the many unknowns in relation to transmission of the virus and vaccine development are a concern for young people. The impacts (known and unknown) on their education loom large. Mental health and psychosocial support impacts continue to chart unevenly for many, though some young people are finding certain positive outcomes along the way.

Young people are increasingly concerned that they are not viewed as equal stakeholders, have few real platforms to contribute to decision making, and are being negatively stereotyped. They are also worried about the inequitable impacts of the pandemic, recognising that it has exacerbated existing disparities and left some particularly vulnerable and excluded in this crisis.

Transmission issues: As time has gone on and the gravity of the pandemic and the responses to it have unfolded (globally, nationally and in Victoria), concern about our health system being overwhelmed has dramatically fallen, as it has proven able to cope during this period (from 35% in April to 15% in August, both nationally and in Melbourne), and the proportion of young people surveyed who have friends and family who have contracted the virus appears to have remained low (April 4%, August 6%).

Education: Young people completing high school during this pandemic are very worried that the impacts of the pandemic and response on their education will in effect deliver them a ‘penalty’ when compared to those who have graduated before them and those who will come after the pandemic has subsided – though this has also tempered with time and experience.

The majority continue to worry about it (April 67%, August 45%, Melbourne 50%), while a larger majority consider themselves to be behind compared to where they would have been now if the pandemic had not happened (August: national 55%, Melbourne 59%).

UNICEF Australia is calling for strategies to re-engage students who have not returned to school or who are at risk of disengaging, and to provide catch-up support to all students in need.”

Mental health and psycho-social support: Almost two thirds of young people are still not confident of where they would turn to for support outside the family (national 63%, Melbourne 67%), while a small but significant proportion have found the pandemic has made access to external support harder (national 16%, Melbourne 14%). While the proportion who report being isolated has halved, this grouping remains worryingly persistent at around a tenth of young people (April 24%, national 11%, Melbourne 12%).

Social connection: A large proportion of young people have remained worried about becoming isolated from their friends (April 57%, August 42%, Melbourne 47%) and in fact, have been (April 88%, August 63%, Melbourne 78%), though this has eased as the realities of the responses played out over passing months. There has also been a slight rise in those worrying about being separated from their family/ carers (April 18%, August 23%) despite many saying they are confident they can turn to their family/carers for support (April 62%, August 58%). Consultation sessions revealed response measures such as quarantines and border closures are often sitting in the background of these concerns.

“Young people can offer unique, valuable insights into discussions about how Australia navigates this pandemic and recovers from it,” Ms Attenborough said.

“The decisions made today will determine the future our young people will inherit – we owe it to them to give them a say in shaping that future.”

nline and phone counselling services can reduce distress and enhance coping ability, research has found.

A peer-reviewed study published by the Evaluation Journal of Australasia found just one phone or webchat session with a mental health professional from the Beyond Blue Support Service had immediate positive effects.

The evaluation, which involved more than 400 people, showed the service to be effective with the majority of participants taking some action, feeling less distressed and less hopelessness. Among the findings: - Three quarters of participants took further action to improve their mental health within three days of contacting Beyond Blue and 85 percent had done so within one month of contacting Beyond Blue; - Distress levels dropped by an average of 42 per cent after just one contact with the service, and; - Respondents’ ability to cope improved by an average of 32 per cent.

Beyond Blue’s support services have experienced strong demand this year, mostly due to the mental health impacts of the summer bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic.

Beyond Blue CEO Georgie Harman said the evaluation showed phone and online support was an effective way for people to begin learning ways to better manage their mental health.

“2020 has been an incredibly tough year and never before have we seen so many people taking that first step and seeking support for their mental health. These results remind us that it’s never too early, or too late, to seek support – just one phone or webchat interaction with a Beyond Blue counsellor can provide immediate and effective results as well as a pathway to longer term support,” Ms Harman said.

Of course, this isn’t the be all and end all. Some will require ongoing support from professionals, others will benefit from the wisdom of peer workers, while others will benefit from opening up to trusted friends, or using self-guided digital and online therapies that are backed by evidence. Many will benefit from a combination of all these approaches.”

The Beyond Blue Support Service, which is funded by donations, is staffed by skilled mental health professionals who provide free counselling, advice and referrals. Ms Harman also encouraged people with concerns specifically about the COVID-19 pandemic, including its associated financial pressures, to access the Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service, funded by the Australia Government and delivered by Beyond Blue.

“The Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service links people with mental health professionals online and over the phone to provide immediate counselling and referrals to fit their circumstances,” Ms Harman said.

“Counsellors are briefed on the latest financial and small business lifelines available through governments and can refer people to those support networks as needed. The service also includes easy access to online peer support forums and digital self-help tools and advice.

The full journal article is available here.

The Beyond Blue Support Service is available via phone 24/7 on 1300 22 4636 or via beyondblue.org.au/get-support for online chat (3PM – 12AM AEST or email responses within 24 hours).

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SNIPPETS

THE ADVOCATE 5

COVID-19 Rich nations have bought more than half the future supply of COVID-19 vaccines from leading contenders

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OXFAM Australia

HEALTH

UNICEF to pre-position over half a billion syringes for COVID-19 vaccinations

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UNICEF Australia

s the world awaits a COVID-19 vaccine, UNICEF has begun laying the groundwork for the rapid, safe and efficient delivery of the eventual vaccine by purchasing and pre-positioning syringes and other necessary equipment.

As soon as COVID-19 vaccines successfully emerge from trials and are licensed and recommended for use, the world will need as many syringes as doses of vaccine. To begin preparations, this year, UNICEF will stockpile 520 million syringes in its warehouses, part of a larger plan of 1 billion syringes by 2021, to guarantee initial supply and help ensure that syringes arrive in countries before the COVID-19 vaccines.

During 2021, assuming there are enough doses of COVID-19 vaccines, UNICEF anticipates delivering over 1 billion syringes to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts on top of the 620 million syringes that UNICEF will purchase for other vaccination programmes against other diseases such as measles, typhoid and more.

“Vaccinating the world against COVID-19 will be one of the largest mass undertakings in human history, and we will need to move as quickly as the vaccines can be produced,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “In order to move fast later, we must move fast now. By the end of the year, we will already have over half a billion syringes pre-positioned where they can be deployed quickly and cost effectively. That’s enough syringes to wrap around the world one and a half times.”

In line with the longstanding collaboration between the two partners, Gavi will

reimburse UNICEF for the procurement of the syringes and safety boxes, which shall then be used for the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX Facility) and for other Gavi-funded immunization programmes if necessary.

Besides syringes, UNICEF is also buying 5 million safety boxes so that used syringes and needles can be disposed of in a safe manner by personnel at health facilities, thus preventing the risk of needle stick injuries and blood borne diseases.

Every safety box carries 100 syringes. Accordingly, UNICEF is “bundling” the syringes with safety boxes to ensure enough safety boxes are available to go along with the syringes.

Injection equipment such as syringes and safety boxes have a shelf life of five years. Lead-times for such equipment are also long as these items are bulky and need to be transported by sea freight. Vaccines, which are heat sensitive, are normally transported more quickly by air freight.

In addition to saving time, early purchase of syringes and safety boxes also reduces pressure on the market and pre-empts potential early spikes in demand when vaccines do become available.

As the key procurement coordinator for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF is already the largest single vaccine buyer in the world, procuring more than 2 billion doses of vaccines annually for routine immunization and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries. Every year, UNICEF provides vaccines for almost half of the world’s children and procures and supplies around 600-800 million syringes for regular immunization programmes.

COVID-19 vaccines will likely treble or quadruple that number, depending on the number of COVID-19 vaccines that

are ultimately produced and secured by UNICEF. “Over two decades, Gavi has helped an additional 822 million children from the world’s most vulnerable countries access critical, life-saving vaccines,” Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, said.

“This would not have been possible without our partnership with UNICEF, and it is this same collaboration that will be essential to Gavi’s work with the COVAX Facility.”

To make sure that vaccines are transported and stored at the right temperature, UNICEF, along with WHO, is also mapping out existing cold chain equipment and storage capacity – in the private as well as public sector – and preparing necessary guidance for countries to receive vaccines.

“We are doing everything we can to deliver these essential supplies efficiently, effectively and at the right temperature, as we already do so well all over the world,” Fore said.

Since 2017, over 40,000 cold-chain fridges, including solar fridges, have been installed across health facilities, mostly in Africa.

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ealthy nations representing just 13 percent of the world’s population – including Australia – have already cornered more than half the promised doses of leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates, Oxfam warned this week as health and finance ministers of G20 countries meet to discuss the global pandemic.

Oxfam analysed the deals that pharmaceutical corporations and vaccine producers have already struck with nations around the world for the five leading vaccine candidates currently in phase 3 clinical trials, based on data collected by Airfinity. The analysis reveals that 51 per cent of promised doses from the five leading candidates have been secured by wealthy nations.

Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Lyn Morgain said the calculations exposed a broken system that protected the monopolies and profits of pharmaceutical corporations and favoured wealthy nations, while artificially restricting production – leaving most of the world’s population waiting longer than necessary for a vaccine.

Oxfam and other organisations across the world are calling for a People’s Vaccine – available to everyone, free of charge and distributed fairly based on need. This will only be possible if pharmaceutical corporations allow vaccines to be produced as widely as possible by freely sharing their knowledge free of patents, instead of protecting their monopolies and selling to the highest bidder.

“Governments will prolong this crisis in all of its human tragedy and economic damage if they allow pharmaceutical companies to protect their monopolies and profits,” Ms Morgain said.

“No single corporation will ever be able to meet the world’s need for a COVID-19 vaccine. That’s why we are calling on them to share their knowledge free of patents and to get behind a quantum leap in production to keep everyone safe. We need a People’s Vaccine, not a profit vaccine.”

Ms Morgain welcomed the Prime Minister’s call for a safe vaccine that is available and affordable to all and the commitment to distribute a vaccine to the Pacific and some South-East Asia countries should Australia develop a successful supply.

But she said details of the commitments remained unclear and fell far short of what was needed from the Government to ensure all people – especially vulnerable communities across the world – could recover from the global pandemic.

“We’re calling on the Government to back these commitments up by working with other nations to secure agreement for a ‘People’s Vaccine,” Ms Morgain said.

6 THE ADVOCATE

HEALTH

Online hate surges during pandemic and solutions aren’t being funded

New veteran programs set to combat mental health crisis

Online Hate Prevention Institute

Mates4Mates Australia

SARAH JACOB

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s Australia sought to stop the spread of the coronavirus by putting hot spot areas into lockdown, many people found that their social interactions were now limited to contact via online platforms. There, some communities found themselves under attack by trolls and online bullies.

“We’ve seen a huge wave of online [hate] content,” said Andre Oboler, CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI).

Oboler believes that the isolation of lockdown was made much worse for marginalised communities by the increase in abuse, as a large section of the community took to online forums to vent their frustration and anger over coronavirus restrictions. He believes that the damage done during this period will have far-reaching effects on our society, long after the virus is gone.

“They were effectively excluded from society. They were even more isolated than everybody else during lockdown,” he said.

“The attitudes which have developed through this content spreading online include a lot of xenophobia, racism and intolerance, and undermine the usual multicultural, inclusive values of our society.

That won’t go away after the pandemic ends. We’re seeing a hardening of attitudes that will take a long time to correct.”

Although this issue has been raised by some media outlets, resolving the problem does not appear to be a priority for the Australian government as the country starts to move towards “COVID normal”, as shown by a lack of funding directed to this area. This reluctance reflects a disinclination by the current government on a broader scale to implement and fund anti-hate speech initiatives.

The Australian Human Rights Commission is the government body tasked with tackling discrimination, including online hate. Funding for the Commissions’ Anti-Racism Strategy ended in 2015, and it has repeatedly requested additional funding to develop a new strategy, which is supported by the opposition and NGOs. Regardless, Oboler said that a response led only by government would not be effective. “All of the money goes to having more police, giving the police more resources, when in actual fact there’s an important role that civil society needs to play,” he said.

OHPI is the only Australian charity focused on online forms of hate speech. It is frequently approached by the government to provide data and assistance in order to tackle the problem, but no funding has been made available to produce this information. “We can only hope donations from new supporters will help close the gap,” Oboler said,

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ates4Mates is calling on Australians to help combat the widespread mental health issues and injuries faced by veterans across Australia..

Funds raised will go towards the roll out of more than 50 face-to-face and online programs in 2021, each providing veterans and their families with vital support and new skills to help manage the challenges they face.

Anxiety, depression, trauma, persistent pain, relationships, and addiction will be some of the topics covered in the workshops which will range from 90-minute sessions to 12-week programs, all designed to ultimately reduce the risk of more complex health issues and suicide.

Mates4Mates CEO Troy Watson said some veterans still lacked access to comprehensive rehabilitation and support services, resulting in isolation and complex mental health issues.

“Research shows that among veterans, mental health issues are significantly higher than the general Australian community,” Mr Watson said.

“Even self-reported levels of high to very high psychological distress is almost three times higher among veterans, than the Australian community.

“With the challenges from COVID-19, mental health issues and isolation have only increased.

“We urgently need to deliver more targeted services to ultimately help prevent more suicides and give our veterans hope, and we know that our new suite of workshops will make a difference.

“But we can’t do it alone. As a charity, we rely on the support of the community and our partners to provide ongoing services.”

Mates4Mates provides support and rehabilitation services for current and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members who have physical or mental service-related injuries, and their families.

“We currently support over 5000 veterans and family members and each year provide thousands of psychology appointments and physical rehabilitation sessions, and essential wellbeing and social connection activities,” Mr Watson said.

“Please, donate today so that we can help more veterans tomorrow.”

As well as donations from the community, Mates4Mat0.

DONATE TODAY at mates4matesappeal.org.

HEALTH

PTSD Awareness Day highlights the struggles of defence force veterans SARAH JACOB

Mates 4 Mates is a national charity that helps veterans and their families rebuild their lives after servicerelated injuries.

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his year, with the added stresses of the COVID-19 crisis, Mates 4 Mates is strongly encouraging Australian Defence Force (ADF) members to contact their Family Recovery Centre to learn more about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and what support is available. Mates 4 Mates is a national charity that helps veterans and their families rebuild their lives after service-related injuries.

It is estimated that around 8 percent of active ADF members will have experienced PTSD in the past 12 months. This is significantly higher than in the Australian community (5.2 percent). The 2018 Mental Health Prevalence Report found that, for ADF members who have transitioned back into civil society, the number is much higher – around 17 percent.

PTSD Awareness Day, which falls on 27 June every year, is designated to raise awareness of the impacts of this disorder.

PTSD can occur in anyone who been through a traumatic event themselves or witnessed one. This can develop soon after the event or many years later.

Mates 4 Mates psychologist Chris McIntyre says that while each person’s experience is different, many relive the traumatic event through vivid memories or nightmares, often accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions.

Retired Army Captain Jason Scanes has lived with PTSD since he returned from serving in Afghanistan. He said that he and his family have had to adjust their daily lives to accommodate his condition.

“It really sucks the motivation out of

you,” Scanes said.

“There are certain sounds and smells that trigger your senses and can take you right back to a traumatic event. Having your partner or a mate there to push you in the right direction and build your confidence is vital,” he added.

PTSD often co-occurs with additional conditions like depression, anxiety and alcoholism, which can further complicate matters. McIntyre, however, says that PTSD is treatable in many cases with the

Facebook & In NAIDOC Week 8 - 15 November

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AIDOC has partnered with Facebook Australia to launch new tools and initiatives to celebrate Indigenous people, stories, and businesses for NAIDOC Week 2020.

Starting on Sunday, 8 November across Facebook and Instagram, Australians will be empowered to connect with this year’s ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’ theme and with Indigenous-designed tools, creators, and businesses.

In welcoming the partnership, National NAIDOC Co Chair, John Paul Janke said it was an exciting opportunity to expand the reach and footprint of NAIDOC Week like never before.

“Millions of Australians can now join

www.theadvocate.org.au

THE ADVOCATE 7

HEALTH right support, with some treatments producing improvements for up to 80 percent of patients.

Scanes says that the support of his family and some simple activities helped him cope with his condition, and the transition back to civilian life.

“Before I went to Afghanistan, my wife said: ’I’d like you to keep a journal’. I was reluctant at first, but I did it because I promised I would. But then I found myself wanting to write about my day and my feelings at the time. My wife kept a journal too, and we swapped journals when I came back. I got to read about the hardships she experienced, and vice versa. That gave us a better perspective of what we were each dealing with.

“Keeping a journal really worked for me,” Scanes said.

He said that finding meaningful employment post-service is often the most difficult aspect of returning to civilian life.

“There are a lot of initiatives in the employment space for veterans,” he said.

“But I’m not convinced that these initiatives are widely known or easily accessible.

If a veteran who has PTSD and depression gets turned down a few times, without constructive feedback on how they can improve, it then becomes very easy for them to fall into a negative mindset that ‘Nobody wants to help, nobody cares, nobody wants me, I’m past my use-by date’.

This mindset I would attribute to a lot of suicides in the veteran community. We simply must do more to understand these issues more broadly,” Scanes added.

McIntyre believes that the COVID-19 crisis has worsened the situation of many veterans already struggling with PTSD “We know that many people with existing mental health issues have struggled through lockdown, as isolation and fear can exacerbate some conditions,” McIntyre said.

“It’s important that where people can’t stay connected physically, they still remain connected virtually to maintain their wellbeing.”

Crisis support can be accessed 24 hours a day at Lifeline: 13 11 14.

National Pain Week puts lived experience front and centre

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SARAH JACOB

kii Ngo was born with a life-threatening illness and has experienced chronic pain since the age of 8. She is one of millions of people living with chronic pain – and the stigma associated with it – every day in Australia.

“I’ve been unwell since the moment I was born,” said Ngo, who is now Executive Director of Chronic Pain Australia. “I had my first spinal surgery when I was 16.”

Around 3.2 million people over the age of 45 live with chronic pain, but Ngo is keen to point out that there are many young people who do as well.

“Because that statistic is related to older people, that then leads to the misconception that it’s only experienced by older people,” she said.

“When I was learning to drive, I was abused,” Ngo continued.

“People were leaving notes on my car saying that I should be ashamed of myself [because I used the disabled car park]. So there are a lot of misconceptions about what chronic pain looks like.”

The theme of this year’s National Pain Week was “Faces of Pain.” The President of Chronic Pain Australia, Jarrod McMaugh, said the theme was chosen to illustrate how varied different people’s experience of pain is.

“Every single person you look at could be experiencing chronic pain and you wouldn’t know, because pain is a personal experience,” McMaugh said.

“So the message this year is not to judge people, because your experience of pain is not the same as another person’s.”

National Pain Week, held annually in July, is now in it’s fifth year. McMaugh said it began as a response to the observation that most of the information on chronic pain was put out by health practitioners, and there wasn’t a lot of information out

there by people experiencing pain themselves.

McMaugh said that, in addition to being an extremely common experience, chronic pain is also misunderstood by the public.

“We’re talking about between one in five or even one in three people who experience persistent pain,” he said.

“The reason as to why it’s difficult to get those statistics is because the types of pain that we consider to be chronic come in different forms.”

“For instance, it could be from an injury that has healed, but pain persists. And that adds to the stigma of this condition because health professionals will state that because the injury has healed the person should be fine, when they’re not.”

“There is also a lot of underreporting of pain, especially in men. We know that chronic pain occurs at roughly the same rates in men and women. But in our surveys, the respondents are predominantly women. That shows us that men are not as comfortable talking about their experiences.”

McMaugh said that stigma is a big part of the problem.

“Some people associate taking pain medicines with weakness,” he said. “Or

nstagram partners with NAIDOC Week in the celebrations via their social media, sharing this stunning content to their networks and thus engaging a whole new audience to our culture, achievement, history, aspirations and voices.”

Exclusively in Australia, Facebook will launch three new Instagram Stories stickers designed by Tyrown Waigana, the Noongar and Saibai Islander artist behind this year’s NAIDOC Week poster.

Other features set to launch in partnership with NAIDOC include: Four Stories templates designed by Nungala Creative, led by proud Warumungu / Wombaya woman Jessica Johnson.

These templates encourage Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to connect with the Country they live on, and share the people and organisations that inspire them during NAIDOC Week.

A new interactive Indigenous music library within the Facebook and Instagram music stickers called ‘Blak Australia’ to highlight Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

Top Indigenous creators will develop and share Instagram Guides focused on well-being and connecting to country.

Guides are an upcoming feature currently testing with select creators around the world.

Will Easton, Vice President of Facebook Australia says that the partnership supports their commitment to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to celebrate culture, access education, and embrace their economic potential.

“Our platforms can elevate community voices and share stories in unprecedented

ways, and this partnership with NAIDOC will harness that power to bring Indigenous achievements and culture to Australians everywhere,” he said.

As NAIDOC Week closes on Saturday, 14 November, Facebook Australia will livestream NAIDOC LIVE: Celebrating Blak Excellence featuring performances and appearances from some of Australia’s top Indigenous talent including Archie Roach, Ash Barty, Kate (Konstantina) Constantine, Wayne Quilliam and many more including Jessica Mauboy in a Facebook world first XR video production that reimagines her song Butterfly.

NAIDOC stands for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’.

there is the perception that people take the medicines to get high – that’s a common attitude we hear from our survey respondents.”

“Another barrier to seeking treatment is access to different treatment options. In [Australia’s] health system, we fund unlimited access to doctors and medicines, but if you need access to allied health – that’s not funded. Or it’s funded perhaps five times a year. If you need ongoing access to allied health services, that adds up very quickly.”

Community pharmacist Kate Gill has been living with chronic pain for 10 years. She agreed that misconceptions and barriers make the experience far more difficult.

“When I first had this pain, all I wanted was a magic bullet to make it all better,” she said. “I had an incorrect diagnosis for about 2 ½ years.”

“I went through multiple investigations. My life really changed when I was referred to a persistent pain management board. That’s when my life slowly started to turn around. Until then, I’d been sinking further and further into a hole.”

“The biggest challenge is the constant comments you get: ‘You look okay, you’re looking good.’ And you might look the same as you’ve always looked, but you don’t feel the same inside. Every day is a struggle. I go out when I’m feeling okay and I look okay – and I do have good days. But if I’m having a really bad day, I hide at home.”

Ngo said that the stigma also extends to the attitudes of some health professionals.

“When you go to the doctor, they may say ‘Well, you look pretty good today, you don’t look like you’re in that much pain,’” she said.

“But if you live with chronic pain, that’s your new normal.”

“If you have to live with it, day in, day out, then you just have to get on with it. That’s going to look very different to someone who suddenly experiences acute pain.”

8 THE ADVOCATE

HEALTH

Mums’ childhood cancer awareness trek raises $44,0000 RYAN FRITZ

Two mothers, who walked for 740kms and 23 days through South Australia for their daughter Natalie’s dying wish to pay it forward for others arrived at the Royal Adelaide Hospital on 23 October.

“Over the last 12 months we have supported around 150 children and their families from all walks of life and from all over the state. Families like Natalie’s.

“Sadly, the crippling cost of cancer, alongside the added financial and emotional pressures of COVID-19, has

“Belinda and Maria have experienced the worst of what cancer can do and what every parent who has a child with cancer dreads. I am humbled by their tenacity and determination to support families who are now going through what they endured. Everyone at Redkite will be thinking of them and cheering them on,” Monique said.

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trek inspired by a family’s tragedy ended in triumph on Friday, 23 October on the front steps of Royal Adelaide Hospi-

tal.

Maria Topalian and Belinda Moore were greeted by family, friends and members of their daughter Natalie’s treating team from the RAH, marking the end of their 23-day, 740km walk for childhood cancer throughout South Australia, which started on 1 October.

Their daughter, Natalie Vari, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in December 2018. Despite finding a stemcell donor and undergoing a transplant, she developed a lung infection and died in June 2019 at the hospital.

Inspired by Natalie’s dying wish to “pay it forward”, her mothers, themselves healthcare workers, took on a physical challenge of their own to raise funds and

“It really was both physical and mentally challenging for us but every time it got really tough, we thought about how hard it was for Nat. She never gave up and that’s what got us through,” the mothers said.

awareness for Redkite.

“It was an amazing adventure where we experienced so much laughter and tears and we could not have done it without the support of our family and friends. Thank you. We feel very loved.

“We’ve managed to turn something so cruel, of losing Nat, into something so beautiful and hopefully we’ve inspired others along the way to pay it forward,” Maria said.

“Nat would be so proud of the journey as we are so proud of her, and she will always walk with us,” they added.

Haematologist, Dr David Yeung, who was on Natalie’s treating team, remembers her fondly and the close bond she shared with her mothers.

“This fundraiser walk by Belinda and Maria is an excellent way to remember Nat as a beautiful, generous and loving soul, and to support other families going through their own battles.

“On behalf of South Australian haematologists, I would like to thank Redkite for supporting our patients and their families,” Dr Yeung said.

Redkite supported the family during Natalie’s illness and still support Maria and Belinda through bereavement counselling, especially when they marked the first-year anniversary of their daughter’s death four months ago.

“It’s just been so nice to know that Red-

kite is still here for us and we can talk to them whenever we’re having a tough day,” Maria said.

Redkite’s CEO, Ms Monique Keighery, said Maria and Belinda’s fundraising efforts will help Redkite to support other South Australian families.

HEALTH

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pushed many families too far. Belinda and Maria’s inspirational trek, and the funds they have raised, will mean we can deliver the vital counselling and financial support these families so desperately need at a time when they have never needed it more,” Ms Keighery said.

“I know Natalie would be so proud of her mums,” Ms Keighery added.

Please donate: https://www.facebook. com/makethejourneycount/

MOVEMBER TO LAUNCH W REGISTRY ‘SUP

Movember

ovember is launching the world’s largest network of prostate cancer patient registries which will have the power to transform the treatment and care of the disease by harnessing the real world experiences of over 130,000 men.

The global ‘super network’ – believed to be the first of its kind – will contain detailed clinical information on the diagnosis, treatment and survivorship of prostate cancer patients from over 15 countries.

The project will fast-track efforts to improve the treatment and care for men diagnosed and living with prostate cancer.

Movember is aiming to grow the network

to include data on 250,000 men within the next five years.

“Effective clinical quality registries significantly improve the quality of life of men with prostate cancer, and offer the potential to extend survival,” Paul Villanti, Executive Director of Programs at Movember said.

“Being able to establish a ‘super network’ of registries that supports biomedical research, clinical trials, treatment quality improvement and personalised care and support for men living with prostate cancer is a major step forward and has the power to revolutionise prostate cancer treatment and care.

www.theadvocate.org.au

THE ADVOCATE 9

“You’re just in a world of pain”: Meet the people tackling mens’ mental health in the bush SARAH JACOB

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t the age of 22, Warren Davies became a farmer. He had moved to the Goulburn Valley as a teenager to help his parents run a dairy farm and after many years of farm work, he decided to buy a few hundred acres adjacent to his parents’ property.

“I knew that I was going into business with the bank, because they lent me the money,” said Davies.

“But I also had a silent business partner in Mother Nature. She was going to throw me some curve balls and have probably the biggest impact on my business and on my mental health.”

Davies had been experiencing mental health issues since he was young, but said it wasn’t something that he had acknowledged as a kid.

“I did nothing about it, never reached out,” he said.

“I buried that stuff and later on in life when I became a farmer myself, those challenges bit me on the bum.”

A few years later, his property experienced extensive flooding.

“It was a really challenging time. It started a spiral – it wasn’t depression, but I just didn’t feel like me. I pushed it to the background and hoped that it would sort itself out.”

A disagreement with his parents about the future direction of the farming business generated additional stress. Davies agreed to buy his parents out of the partnership, but in doing so, he took on a lot of debt. The family rift weighed on him and he found himself sinking into depression. Two years later, his region went into drought.

“As it got worse and worse, it had a

really big effect on me. I felt a lot of shame and guilt that I was failing as a farmer. I ended up in some pretty dark places. I got to the stage where I really couldn’t see a way out. I hit rock bottom and eventually attempted to take my own life.”

Davies said that it’s difficult to think rationally while you’re severely depressed.

He believes that clinging to an idealised image of who he wanted to be, slowed his recovery.

“You’re just in a world of pain,” he continued.

“I’m a husband and a father and I have a loving family, but I felt I was letting them down. I felt that they were better off without me.”

“When we walked away from the farm, I unclipped my identity and I hooked on the front gate and I left it with my farm, because that’s who I thought I was going to be for the rest of my life. I thought I was going to be Warren the farmer and it hadn’t worked out.”

Recent studies have shown that the rate of suicide in regional and rural areas is 55% higher than it is in capital cities.

Young men between the ages of 15 and 24 are particularly at risk.

Hazel Dalton, a researcher at the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health (CRRMH) in Orange, NSW, said that many contributors come together to put someone in a position where they would contemplate it.

“There’s a lot of environmental and socio-economic factors that come into play that can create a significant amount of stress like unemployment, a relationship breakdown, social isolation, some areas have poor access to services. We also know that there can be poor mental health literacy and [lack of recognition] that you’re in trouble.”

WORLD’S FIRST CANCER PER NETWORK’ “Within the next five years, we are aiming to include the experiences of over 250,000 men,” Paul said.

The data will enable prostate clinicians throughout the world to measure and benchmark the health of their patients after treatment, providing them with vital information to improve the quality of prostate cancer treatment and care.

The patient registries will deliver personalised care to more men as the data will allow

cancer specialists to monitor how patients are responding to new generations of therapies in the real world, outside of clinical trials.

It will enable researchers to fast track the implementation of clinical trials that enable us to understand which new therapies, or combinations, deliver the best outcomes for patients in a real-world setting.

It will improve patient access to digital survivorship resources such as Movember’s True North initiative.

The CRRMH has undertaken research that is starting to provide more detail on why mental health outcomes are different between city and country areas.

“For young rural men, compared to their city counterparts, their relationship with their parents and family is probably more important than with their friends,” said Dalton.

“So if it’s good, that’s great, but if it’s not, then that’s really hard. We’ve also found that, while city kids are worried about getting the right job, rural kids are worried about getting a job at all. Moreover, they’re worried about having to move and be away from their social connections and support.

So, it’s a bit more challenging for them.”

For Davies, a moment in time gave him the clarity he needed to start on the road to recovery.

“In one split second, I knew [suicide] wasn’t the answer. I call it my ‘two feet of perspective’,” he said.

“You think that it’s a unique thing that you’re going through, but it’s not. The more conversations I’ve had, particularly with blokes, once they’ve heard my story and then come over and opened up to me, I’ve learned that my story is definitely not unique. There are lot of blokes who are holding the same story but who aren’t talking about it. That’s why I do what I do.”

Davies is now a full-time motivational speaker, travelling around the country to share his story with regional communities.

A range of community-led men’s mental health initiatives have sprung up in regional areas over the past few years. One that has received a lot of praise recently is a grassroots mental health program run

by Mary O’Brien called ‘Are You Bogged, Mate?’. It all started when O’Brien wrote an article as part of her healing process after two suicides in her region.

“I went into bat for country men and said there’s nothing wrong with them, you just don’t understand them. That’s all I did,

and it went viral.”

The ABC’s Landline program ran a segment on Mary’s initiative in July this year.

The response was overwhelming.

“I’m quite humbled and blown away by the response that it’s had,” said Mary.

“To me, [my approach] was simple. I spend a lot of time presenting to blokes and I have a far idea of how they tick, the sort of information they want, and how they want it presented.”

Importantly, Mary said that the segment has resulted in a positive response from men in rural communities.

“I’ve had some feedback from service providers that offer counselling. They’ve been talking to blokes who say: ‘Oh I saw that Landline story’. So particularly with Rural Aid and the Virtual Psychologist, the two services mentioned in the Landline story, men have been reaching out to them.”

O’Brien said the COVID-19 crisis has made things more difficult for country people, just as it has for those in the city.

“Rural communities were suffering already from the impact of extended drought and horrific bushfires. When coronavirus came along, everyone was worried about rural people being isolated, but they’re used to isolation. What has changed is they’ve lost their social connections – so they can’t go to the cattle sales, they can’t go to the pub on a Friday night to catch up with friends, there’s no sport.”

Dalton pointed out that there were some positives that have come from the pandemic, however.

“Lockdown forced a change in a lot of health services. A lot of telehealth initiatives that had been sitting on the backburner suddenly got deployed,” she said.

10 THE ADVOCATE

COMMUNITY

25 million new reasons to inspire generosity dollar to, which charities do you already support, is it time to give a little more?”

“Every coin that was passed on would relay a message to inspire generosity and raise vital cash for the nation’s charities large and small, and the 600,000 not-forprofits,” he said.

The Community Council for Australia

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he Community Council for Australia is calling on Australians to get behind an innovative new initiative launched in October by the Australian Mint that has the potential to deliver millions of dollars in additional funding to charities and community organisations each year.

A new one dollar coin, called a Donation Dollar, has been minted and is entering circulation. The Donation Dollar is legal tender and the world’s first coin that features a call to action: a call for the holder to give. Over the coming years 25 million coins will be minted and circulated – one of for every Australian. The Donation Dollar is an initiative of Saatchi and Saatchi who have consulted with several charities in developing the concept, and

Please cut the tawny tape strangling our charities

the Australian Mint who have embraced the idea and made it their own.

David Crosbie, CEO of CCA said: “If every Australian donated just one Donation Dollar a month, together the charities sector would receive an additional $300

COVID restrictions a positive for animals at The Lost Dogs’ Home The Lost Dogs’ Home

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ppointment-based adoptions are here to stay with The Lost Dogs’ Home permanently implementing appointments for all adoptions – whether for a specific animal, or to browse.

The change in process which was implemented in March because of the state lock down regulations has been reviewed and deemed a better option for both animals and potential pet owners.

The Lost Dogs’ Home’s spokesperson, Suzana Talevski, said the appointment system means that they can better inform potential dog and cat owners of the quirks and needs of the individual animals in our care.

“It means that we further minimise impulse purchases, and that the animals are more likely to have successful outcomes.

So that is better for animals and owners” she said.

“This is an important step for large shelters like The Lost Dogs’ Home as we prepare for restrictions to further ease which means more people are going back to work and the potential for animals that have been adopted from us could rise.”

Our May adoption total of 566 animals is the largest single-month adoption total since January 2018.

The Home also said its appointment-based system makes better sense of time for staff and visitors to the shelter. ‘’We can get a lot of administration out of the way before a person gets here, so that means potential adopters get to spend more time with the animal in the meet and greet stage, and get a better indication of the animal’s personality.

“From the shelter’s point of view, we are ready when someone gets here. Our adoption attendants have studied up and

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The Community Council for Australia

become acquainted with the animals deeply. The person you make the appointment with is the person who takes you through the meet and greet and does all your paperwork. It is a much more curated and efficient process than it ever was.”

Ms Talevski said although the appointment based system can be frustrating for some who have been waiting a while to adopt.

The Home’s priority will always be making sure the most stringent processes are place to make sure animals are matched with the most suitable owners.

SOCIETY

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EMMA LENNON OVID-19 has created new challenges for us all, however, for many young people the pandemic has compounded highly complex vulnerabilities, including experiences of family violence.

The Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) supports young people experiencing complex issues including alcohol and other drugs (AOD) use and is conducting an important new project that outlines the unique experience of family violence for young people, particularly during a global crisis such as COVID-19.

YSAS understands the need for a public health response to COVID-19, and to support the experiences and needs of young people in accordance with directives and advice from public health authorities.

million in donations every single year.

That’s an additional $300 million to support the most vulnerable people in society and to support the organisations that help our communities to flourish.”

“Charities in Australia employ over 1.3 million people and contribute over 8% of GDP – when we support our charities we are strengthening our communities and our economy. The ongoing circulation of Donation Dollars will help to continuously remind people about the value and importance of the charities sector in Australia.

It will remind us that a dollar spent by charities circulates within our economies, generating jobs and economic activity as well as positive community benefits. This is really a win-win for the community.”

Australia is a generous country, and with millions of Donation Dollars soon to be in circulation there will be so many opportunities for Australians to think actively about the causes they care about and how they can contribute by donating, volunteering or supporting in other ways.

Charities leader and CCA Chair Tim Costello said: “Every one of these coins is a chance to spark new conversations about generosity. It might be a small coin, but it will circulate as a constant reminder to give, and that can make a big difference.

We are hoping people will ask questions like. who are you giving your donation

harities across Australia are frustrated with governments not acting to remove out of date regulations and duplication preventing registered charities being able to legitimately fundraise online.

According to David Crosbie, CEO of the CCA: “Now more than ever, we need to enable charities to pivot to online fundraising, but multiple levels of government bureaucracy is strangling charities by making them satisfy seven different sets of regulations requiring at least six weeks of pointless compliance work.

All registered Australian charities engaged in online fundraising are legally required to satisfy every government in Australia.

“There is an easy fix if all governments agreed to work with the information already collected by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission rather than duplicating and collecting their own.

“It’s important to note that all registered charities in Australia are overseen by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) who have significant powers to investigate any complaint by anyone against any registered charity.

The consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, also has the power to investigate and act against any charity engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct,” Mr Crosbie said.

“At this rate we will have humans on Mars before fundraising regulations are streamlined,” Mr Crosbie added.

Young People’s Experiences of F Last year, YSAS was engaged by Family Safety Victoria (FSV), in a project to align existing youth AOD support sector practices with the Family Violence Capability Framework that emerged from the 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence. Findings in the early stages of this project shed light onto the intersections between AOD use and family violence for young people and showed opportunities for professionals in the youth AOD sector to better support young people experiencing family violence. The findings quickly demonstrated how complex these intersections were, and how important it was to create service provision models that adequately supported young victim-survivors of family violence.

Particularly for Intimate Partner Vio-

lence (IPV), research and public discourse is often centred on adults, despite concepts like gender inequality, power and control being unique for young people, many of whom are entering their first romantic relationships and developing their understanding of what is ‘normal’ during this developmental period.

A lack of specialised understanding of how these factors compound trauma and complexity may create barriers to support-seeking for young people and limit the sector’s ability to respond adequately.

For example, young people may use substances themselves as a way of coping with trauma caused by family violence.

Perpetrators may also weaponise substances as a form of power, manipulation and coercion by withholding substances that a

www.theadvocate.org.au

THE ADVOCATE 11

ACOSS appearing at Senate Inquiry on JobMaker wage subsidy for people under 35 Australian Council for Social Services

A Australia’s youth learn more about earthquakes than bushfires, floods, survey finds

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World Vision Australia

ustralian youth feel unprepared for disasters like bushfires, saying schools are failing to arm them with the skills they need, and politicians are not listening to their climate change concerns, a major report has found.

The Our World, Our Say Report released in August reveals that while youth are increasingly frightened by the spectre of disasters, a staggering 88 per cent believe they are not being taught enough to protect themselves and their communities.

The research was conducted in the wake of Australia’s devastating ‘Black Summer’ bushfire season, finding young people learned more about earthquakes in class than more relevant hazards like bushfires, floods, drought and tropical cyclones.

The nation’s most comprehensive consultation of children and youth on climate

change, disasters and disaster-resilience involved the polling of almost 1500 children aged 10-24. It was led by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience and World Vision Australia, with the support of UNICEF Australia, Plan International, Save the Children, Oaktree and Australian Red Cross.

Overwhelmingly, survey respondents wanted politicians to give them a voice on climate change and disaster risk, with nearly 90 per cent saying they did not feel heard by leaders in government.

Young people were deeply worried about climate change, but most felt Australia was not doing enough to address it.

Students also said their education had not equipped them with the knowledge needed to prepare for disasters and reduce their impact, even though almost twothirds (64 per cent) had experienced at

least three events such as bushfires, heatwaves and drought in the past three years.

The Our World Our Say survey also found: AIR pollution has emerged as a significant climate change concern for 76 per cent; SIXTY-seven per cent don’t believe Australia is doing enough to reduce carbon emissions.

A representative panel of young people helped analyse the survey results, including Maddie Canteri, 17, of Cairns.

She said young people had both the capacity and desire to be powerful agents of change, and their voices on issues like climate change needed to be heard.

More than 8000 young people from India to the Philippines contributed their voices to a similar survey on climate change and disaster risk reduction.

COSS Principal Advisor Dr Peter Davidson & ACOSS Senior Advisor (Social Security) Charmaine Crowe appeared at the Senate Inquiry into the JobMaker wage subsidy for people under 35.

ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie said: “The JobMaker wage subsidy offered a glimmer of hope for young people on jobs in an otherwise devastating Federal Budget for the more than a million people who are unemployed. “It’s clear that young people have been disproportionately impacted by unemployment in this pandemic, however, there are people of all ages who will struggle to get back into employment, including older people suffering discrimination, people with disability, and people with caring responsibilities.

“We’re urging that the JobMaker wage subsidy be extended to people over 35 who have been unemployed for a year or more.

It’s also crucial that the JobSeeker payment and other income support payments are permanently increased to a rate that allows people to keep a roof over their head and food on the table, as they try to rebuild their lives and get back into the workforce.”

ACOSS Principal Advisor Dr Peter Davidson said: “Experience with wage subsidies indicates that they can boost employment, especially when the economy is recovering from recession.

Read ACOSS’ Submission to the Inquiry.

Download the Accessible Version here.

Family Violence during COVID-19 victim is dependent on if they do not succumb to the perpetrators control. To create a holistic approach to the prevention of violence and supporting victim-survivors, these factors need to be better understood.

The consequences of the COVID-19 crisis became clear during this year’s project phases, and soon trends emerged in the research indicating higher rates and increased severity of family violence during the pandemic. Demand for housing support and material aid also increased, and some young people who may have previously been living independently moved in with romantic partners to self-isolate together.

This period of increased isolation for young people presented new opportunities for perpetrators to use violence,

whilst significant disruptions to service provision posed an additional barrier to help-seeking. In some cases, the pandemic restrictions have been weaponised against victim-survivors, for example by perpetrators giving misleading information about the extent of the restrictions or claiming to be infected with COVID-19 as a form of controlling or manipulating the victim-survivor into remaining isolated.

The implications for these findings are now being used to inform the later phases of the project which explores what knowledge, skills and resources are required by the sector to effectively respond to family violence facing young people, including during the COVID-19 and other crises.

Safety plans, which outline strategies for young people to remove themselves from

dangerous situations, need to consider additional challenges such as transport availability, impacts on young people’s employment and income, and service availability or disruptions.

YSAS will soon release a report with key findings from its research, and recommendations to support and upskill the sector to better protect young people from violence, and to understand their unique experiences and understanding of family violence, power, control and gender inequality For more information about this project, please visit: YSAS Family Violence Project.

If you or someone you know needs support, please contact: 1800 Respect National Helpline 1800 737 732

Women’s Crisis Line 1800 811 811 Men’s Referral Service 1300 766 491 Lifeline 24 hour support 131 114 Victoria Safe Steps crisis response line 1800 015 188

12 THE ADVOCATE

ENVIRONMENT

Marine conservationists want ‘nets out now’ for our humpbacks

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Australian Marine Conservation Society

odernising beach safety and moving to non-lethal shark control in Queensland is affordable and supports local industry, reveals a new report by a coalition of concerned stakeholders including Humane Society International (HSI) and Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS).

The Queensland Shark Control Program Modernisation Proposal and Cost Estimate, investigated the funding required for non-lethal solutions outlined in the Cardno Review of Alternative Approaches report commissioned by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) last year.

Non-lethal, modern solutions considered in the cost estimate include drones, new barrier technologies, and education.

Using costs provided by the Australian contractors and businesses named in QDAF’s report, the estimated annual operating cost of non-lethal shark control throughout Queensland is $4.16 million.

This is cheaper than the current amount of $17.1 million over four years proposed by Minister Furner in June 2019.

“This report demonstrates how easily Queensland could update their program to keep swimmers and marine wildlife safe,” Lawrence Chlebeck, marine biologist with HSI said. “There’s been 60 years of progress in our understanding of shark behaviour and technology, and it’s long past time for a change.”

“Shark culling does not reduce the risk of shark bite. It’s been independently proven by shark researchers and in legal proceedings. If human safety is truly Queensland’s first priority, then they will heed the science and begin modernising this program immediately.”

Dr Leonardo Guida, Shark Scientist with AMCS said: “The only thing the current program does well is take a terrible toll on marine wildlife. Just this year we’ve seen six humpbacks get caught, and a dugong wash up on a beach dead after drowning in a shark net. Since 2001, thousands of animals have died including dolphins, turtles, rays, and all for a false sense of security,” Dr Guida said.

Last year, HSI challenged the lethal Queensland Shark Control Program in the Great Barrier Reef in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and won, with the Tribunal declaring the program “unscientific” and out of step with current national and international developments. The Tribunal also stated that there was overwhelming evidence that shark culling does not reduce the risk of shark bite.

Why do we still use shark nets SARAH JACOB

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hark nets are not fit-for-purpose.

They do not protect swimmers and kill hundreds of other marine animals, including threatened species.

So why do we still deploy them in Australia, and what other technologies should we be using instead? Sarah Jacob asks the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s shark scientist, Leonardo Guida.

The statistics coming out of shark control programs are quite worrying from a conservation standpoint, with more than 60% of species caught in NSW being threatened species. How do the two main lethal techniques – shark nets and drumlines – compare, and what kinds of non-target animals are captured?

A drumline is a baited fishing hook. In Queensland the shark nets are about 186 metres wide and 4-6 metres in depth. So they don’t stretch to the length of the entire beach.

Nets are essentially invisible in the water and will capture almost anything that hits it. There’s a greater degree of bycatch. What that means is that you’re not only catching sharks but you’re also catching turtles, dolphins, dugongs, and as we’ve seen in Queensland recently, whales as well. In NSW in particular, they are a [sting] ray killing machine. There are hundreds of rays that are caught every year, more so than other animals. Drumlines still catch turtles and that bite the bait, but generally the variety of animals is much less than for nets.

How do SMART drumlines work?

The Shark Management Alert in Real Time (SMART) drumline is a piece of technology that’s linked up to a satellite.

If a shark or any other animal bites that hook it will pull a trigger, and that sends a

As Australian humpback whales start to migrate south from North Queensland to Antarctica signal to a satellite which is beamed back to Fisheries offices, then they head out to the drumline, and release the animal with a tag.

Why are tagging programs important?

The benefit of shark tagging programs is that we get this wealth of information that can tell us how sharks move, where they go, why they move. This translates into resources that not only help us manage our fisheries, and our interactions with sharks, but also to communicate to the public about certain conditions where the [likelihood of] presence of sharks might be higher than normal. Then people can make informed decisions about whether they want to go into the water at that time.

A 2017 study of public perceptions of shark nets at Sydney beaches found that there was strong support for shark nets but much less support for direct culling measures like hunting of sharks.

It was suggested by the authors that the reason for this is that public education is lacking. How important is public education on this issue?

There seems to be this perception that shark nets are a barrier, and they’re not. There’s a perception that a shark net extends from surface to bottom, that it extends across the whole beach and no shark can get through. But sharks can swim around, under and over the net. One study that found 40% of sharks caught in nets

Top End Turtle Nesting Beach Trashed by GEORGIA FRANC

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emonstrating what can be achieved when you unite to protect the oceans and marine life, Sea Shepherd and the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation of Northeast Arnhem Land, have again joined forces for a remote beach cleanup campaign at Djulpan in the Northern Territory.

Around 2.5 hours from the nearest town, Djulpan is culturally significant for the Yolgnu people but tragically this isolated and beautiful stretch of coastline is inundated by marine plastic pollution.

This area along the western side of the Gulf of Carpentaria is also an important nesting ground for six of the seven species of marine turtles which are listed as either

endangered or vulnerable.

When the Sea Shepherd crew and Rangers returned to Djulpan for the second year, they were more determined than ever to free the sacred shoreline of Djulpan of trash. Despite the heat and long days together they removed 12.1 tonnes of debris including consumer plastics and large fishing nets from 8.5 kilometres of beach.

This surpassed the previous year’s achievement of 7.1 tonnes from 4 kilometre of beach.

Liza Dicks, Arnhem Campaign Leader said the volume and density of debris was still a shock to the 11 experienced Sea Shepherd volunteers, many of whom had returned to Djulpan for a

second time.

Most surprising to the team on the first day was the astonishing sight of Djulpan covered with dozens and dozens of turtle tracks and nests.

Seeing so many turtle nests on the areas of Djulpan cleaned last year demonstrates that beach clean-ups make a direct difference for marine life. Their clean-ups have one goal – to remove as much plastic pollution as possible to give immediate relief to the area’s marine life.

Sadly, whilst cleaning up the beach the crew came across a number of turtles that had died as a result of debris including turtle hatchlings trapped in plastic

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THE ADVOCATE 13

ENVIRONMENT

in Australia?

Is there anything that swimmers can do to reduce their risk?

There is the Shark Shield device which has been shown to reduce the risk. In NSW the Shark SMART app gives you information on whether you should go into the water in the first place. There are environmental conditions that can help you judge the risk of going into the water.

For example, at river mouths, particularly after a storm or heavy rainfall, you will see a spike in shark activity, especially bull sharks. That’s because conditions are favourable for them to hunt. Another thing is when you see a flock of seabirds congregated in one area, repeatedly diving into the water, that’s an indication of a high concentration of fish. If there are sharks nearby, it’s an easy feed for them, so they will probably be involved in the feeding as well.

a for the summer, many are still wondering why nets are atill necessary. (Image SUPPLIED.) were actually on the shore side of the net.

Public education is fundamental for any strategy to improve bather safety. In NSW, as part of their Shark SMART strategy, they have huts on the beach where people can go and ask questions. Queensland does not [have a public education program].

The Australian Marine Conservation Society and Humane Society International are partners on a campaign called Shark Champions, which is an effort to educate people on how shark control works.

Why are shark nets still a major part of risk mitigation on Australian beaches, considering that they have been proven not to be effective in protecting swimmers?

Partly it’s because it’s entrenched in culture, and there’s a reluctance to change because [nets] have been around for so long with the perception that it “seems to work”. NSW is a bit more progressive, recently they announced greater investment in drones for use along the coast. Queensland is considerably further behind, they haven’t implemented any non-lethal technologies as yet. I think that there is perhaps a political disincentive to move towards [non-lethal] technologies, as no politician wants to be the one who takes out a drumline or a net and then someone gets bitten, because then that can be used politically against them.

y Plastic Pollution containers and turtles found entangled in fishing nets.

Female turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs were documented navigating through plastic debris as they dug their nests. This shows the devastating impact and consequences that plastic is having on wildlife.

Volunteers also found evidence of animals biting or eating the plastic – clear bite marks were discovered from turtles and fish on a range of plastic packaging but notably, most bites were found on either food or personal care items.

Inspections and surveys of the remote 14-kilometre length of Djulpan found the entire coastal strip affected by pollution.

Areas in and around the rocky outcrops were hardest hit with the high densities of broken plastic and fishing nets. The

surveys also revealed there was a material difference in the first 2 kilometres of beach from last year – but still 50% of the debris had returned to Djulpan in a year.

While seeing all this plastic is devastating, it also shows that beach cleans are a key strategic tool in reducing plastic accumulation and giving protection to marine life in remote coastal areas.

For Sea Shepherd, with their partnership with Dhimurru becoming stronger and their cultural and environmental outcomes becoming greater, they are looking forward to returning to Djulpan in October 2020 to achieve even more together.

When good people come together, ordinary people can achieve the extraordinary, for the benefit of the oceans and future generations.

The 2017 public perception survey found that most people interviewed considered that the media oversensationalised shark attacks. What can the media do better in this regard?

The media has an important role to play, given that it’s from the media that most people learn of shark bites – and you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t used the word “attack”. That’s a simple thing that the media can do, is to call them shark “bites”. The word “attack” is very inaccurate. The definition of that word is to consciously pursue someone with the intention of injuring or killing it. Sharks are very curious but they don’t have hands like we do, they have mouths full of razor blades – that’s all they have.

Bushfire Royal Commission: How to prevent wildlife going up in flames

Humane Society International

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umane Society International (HSI) welcomes the wildlife rescue findings of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements report released in late October. The need for emergency response training for volunteer wildlife rescuers and for governments to work with the wildlife sector to develop emergency protocols and improve onground coordination were among priorities identified.

“Wildlife rescue is highly reliant on volunteers in Australia, and if we’re going to continue turning to them in times of emergency there’s an urgent need to provide emergency training and respect their role by including them in emergency response protocols,” Humane Society International’s Head of Programs Evan Quartermain said.

HSI has first-hand experience with bushfire wildlife rescue having deployed a response team to Kangaroo Island across three months at the start of the year. We are also providing significant financial assistance to wildlife rescuers and carers across the country as they rehabilitate survivors from the Black Summer and prepare for future disasters.

The report has significant commonalities with recommendations featured in HSI’s Safeguarding Australia’s Wildlife analysis of the wildlife rescue response to the Black Summer bushfires, which is set

to be released next week.

The wide-ranging Royal Commission report also included conservation recommendations, detailing the catastrophic impacts suffered by threatened species and habitats and the need to better integrate environment and heritage matters into emergency planning and response. It also highlighted the importance of having a comprehensive and up to date understanding of threatened species and habitat status to rapidly guide intervention and recovery efforts.

HSI is responsible for initiating more than 40% of habitats currently recognised as nationally threatened through our Threatened Ecological Community nomination program, with these listings providing a solid information base to assess bushfire impacts on biodiversity and rapidly prioritise recovery efforts. Following the Black Summer fires, HSI has shifted the focus of our habitat protection efforts to bushfire impacted landscapes, particularly those unaccustomed to fire such as rainforests.

“The report shows how vital having up to date and comprehensive information on Australia’s biodiversity is when responding to threats and prioritising recovery. But more Departmental funding is needed as their current capacity to assess the nominations we’re submitting is far outpaced by the impacts these habitats are facing,” Mr Quartermain concluded.

14 THE ADVOCATE

ENVIRONMENT

Mismanagement of Murray-Darling Basin has caused rivers to run dry

Water infrastructure projects in the Nyah-Vinifera region led by state and federal governments have caused neighbouring forests and riverbanks to remain tinder dry.

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GEORGIA FRANC

ater infrastructure projects in the Nyah-Vinifera region led by state and federal governments have caused neighbouring forests and riverbanks to remain tinder dry.

Despite being the largest river system in Australia, the Murray-Darling Basin is dealing with drought and prospects of extinction for various flora and fauna in the district. Significant wetlands such as the Coorong and Menindee Lakes are at risk of collapse, threatening migratory birds that travel from Siberia and Alaska.

The River Country Campaign was formed in 2000, starting out as a solidarity

group supporting the Watti Watti Nation to make the Nyah-Vinifera national park more secure. 20 years later the campaign is calling for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to be reviewed to restore health to the Murray-Darling.

River Country Coordinator Megan Williams describes how Indigenous knowledge is vital in properly rehabilitating the water management system.

“We are supportive of Indigenous Nations to have sovereign rights to country and in being able to utilise their knowledge to apply them in water management… this is not currently playing a huge role in management.”

In March this year, the first flush of water down the lower Darling in 3 years was celebrated, however people are still tense amidst the COVID-19 health crisis.

Towns in far west NSW have relied on drinking water to be trucked in by volunteers with residents having limited access to safe quality water to meet their needs.

This situation was not going to be viable during the pandemic, as transport and travel became more restricted.

“We’ve been adapting to do what we can with government guidelines,” Williams said of the COVID-19 restrictions.

“Engaging with people online and hosting online events continues to get

WIRES uses bushfire donations to support University koala research

W WIRES

IRES (NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Inc) has announced a threeyear grant to the Koala Health Hub (KHH) a University of Sydney initiative to support koala care, management and research. The grant will sustain the KHH and allow it to respond to increasing need for koala care and management following recent bushfires and droughts.

“WIRES fully support the critical work being undertaken by Koala Health Hub,” said WIRES CEO Leanne Taylor. “Thanks to the incredible financial support we received in response to Australia’s bushfires we are now in the position to fund this significant research initiative.”

“The plight of Australian native animals and in particular the koala is in the spotlight and we need to take action now and do whatever it takes to halt the decline of their numbers in the wild,” she said.

The donation of $1,012,399 is the largest one-off living gift made to the University’s School of Veterinary Science, where the Koala Health Hub sits. Donations to WIRES were made by both local and international donors including from the US, UK, Asia and Europe.

KHH benefits koala welfare and conservation by providing laboratory support and evidence-based information to those at the coalface of care and management of koalas, whether in the clinic or in the wild.

WIRES’ funding will be used to

information out there and work with local communities to put in submissions.”

Wilcannia, a town in north-western NSW, recently had their water supply switched back to their local weir pool after being connected to groundwater. This change ensures residents have ease of access to safe drinking water.

Despite the obvious value of these flows, they are still not being protected. River Country is calling upon NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey to re-instate the embargo on the Barwon Darling catchment.

The River Country Appeal page is still accepting donations here: https://www. melbournefoe.org.au/river_country_donate The petition to Revive the Rivers can be signed here: https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/buybacks

ENVIRONMENT

Giant Antarctic killing machine not welcome in Antarctica’s gateway city

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Bob Brown Foundation

help KHH provide diagnostic support, expertise and coordination and communication to rehabilitation, university and government sectors. This includes funding a postdoctoral researcher and three PhD students, which will contribute to Australia’s pool of wildlife expertise and provide ‘boots on the ground’ to answer key questions to assist koala management.

Prior to the bushfires WIRES worked with KHH and the University’s wildlife clinic at Camden to clinically assess koalas in care and as a referral resource for rescues needing rehabilitation.

According to Koala Health Hub Director, Associate Professor Damien Higgins, this grant honours the generous public donations to WIRES during the bushfires by providing the means to better manage the recovery of surviving koalas, and to better prepare for future events.

“The Koala Health Hub was established

in 2015 and WIRES has been a valued collaborator from the start. Their support now will make a really significant difference to what we can achieve for koala care and conservation following the recent bushfires and drought. On top of the importance of health and disease to individual welfare, it is a key part of the viability and recovery of koala populations and their management.

Koalas have long been under pressure from a range of threats and the recent bushfires have added to that,” Higgins said.

“The need for diagnostic support and disease expertise is greater than ever.

Numbers of koalas in care is increasing due to drought, longer term impacts from fire, and the ongoing pressures of habitat loss,” he said.

obart’s - and Australia’s reputation as a bulwark for the environment of Antarctica is at stake after the controversial killing machine, the Antarctic Aurora, docked in Hobart on Friday, 6 November.

“Antarctica and sub-Antarctic oceans are complex ecosystems that need protection from longline fishing for toothfish.

This ship is unashamedly on its way to plunder Antarctica’s marine ecosystem for private profit,” Bob Brown Foundation’s Campaign Manager Jenny Weber said.

“We appealed through letters to the Prime Minister and Tasmanian Premier to urgently ban this Antarctic longline fishing ship from Hobart and all Australian ports. They have failed to prioritise the protection of the Great White Continent and its oceans.

“What happens in Antarctica has a critical impact on the global climate and Bob Brown Foundation is on the road to launch a campaign to fight for Antarctica’s protection from marauding ships such as the Antarctic Aurora. Its presence in Hobart will give us a good target to highlight the problems which continue to destroy the great southern Oceans wildness. The Antarctica Aurora is part-owned by former Japanese whalers.

“This longline ship has no place in Australian waters or any global oceans. Earth’s oceans are in urgent need of preservation of the remaining life left in them,” Jenny Weber said.

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THE ADVOCATE 15

ENVIRONMENT

Beautiful Ningaloo: One of WA’s biggest ever conservation communications campaigns launched to protect Exmouth Gulf Beautiful Ningaloo - one of WA’s biggest ever conservation communications campaigns - kicked off with a series of major print, radio and online advertisements, and the mass distribution of postcards across Perth.

RYAN FRITZ

B

eautiful Ningaloo – one of WA’s biggest ever conservation communications campaigns – kicked off in August with a series of major print, radio and online advertisements, and the mass distribution of postcards across Perth.

The campaign was designed to alert the broad community to the risks posed by a massive oil and gas pipeline fabrication facility and towing operation earmarked for an undeveloped, highly biodiverse part of Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo, prized by tourism businesses, locals and scientists, alike.

Paul Gamblin, Director, Protect Ningaloo, said: “We’re up against Subsea 7, a multi-billion-dollar global corporation, so it’ll be a David and Goliath struggle but we’re determined to protect our beautiful Ningaloo.”

“For two years, we’ve implored Subsea 7 to do the right thing by withdrawing their controversial proposal and avoiding harming Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo. But it’s been to no avail. So now we need to ramp it up.”

In addition to full-page newspaper advertisements, and on AM and FM radio, online promotion and a giant ‘postcard’ mobile billboard, the Protect Ningaloo campaign is distributing postcards initially to around a quarter of the households in the wider Perth metropolitan area, and

The beautiful Point Heron in Western Australia.

posters to venues across the State.

“Tens of thousands of people have already joined our campaign and this enormous support means we can now take up the cause in a much bigger way than ever before. Ningaloo-Exmouth Gulf is a special place to so many people – it’s a beloved part of our shared heritage – which explains the torrent of letters that people have sent to Government asking it to stop industrialisation of this area.”

“It’s just common sense to protect the ecosystem that supports the region’s famed

tourism industry which sustains the bulk of jobs there. Scientists are regularly discovering new natural wonders in Exmouth Gulf, and if we look after it, it will generate tourism, education and research jobs for decades to come. It’s time to draw a line in the sand and stop heavy industry from getting a foothold at Ningaloo.”

The Protect Ningaloo campaign understands that instead of risking Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo, oil and gas pipelines can be deployed offshore as per current practice, or industrialised sites in the Pilbara could also potentially be used, meaning the Subsea 7 proposal for Exmouth Gulf is unnecessary.

“To know that pipelines can be deployed from ships or potentially from industrialised areas in the Pilbara is another reason observers are incredulous that the proposal for Exmouth Gulf ever got off the drawing board.”

“The ball is in Subsea 7’s court. It can withdraw this highly controversial proposal at any time, and should do so now.

Subsea 7 could still be doing business in the North West without risking one of our most precious natural and tourism assets.

It’s time to end the uncertainty, and protect Beautiful Ningaloo.”

Subsea 7’s pipeline plans put on hold

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he WA Minister for Environment, Hon. Stephen Dawson, has confirmed that the Subsea 7 pipeline fabrication facility earmarked for Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo has been put on hold.

Furthermore, in recognition of the potential impacts of development proposals on Exmouth Gulf, the Minister has instructed the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to undertake a broad assessment of Exmouth Gulf, due in mid-2021.

Protect Ningaloo Director, Paul Gamblin said, “We think the case to stop the controversial Subsea 7 oil and gas pipeline facility dead in its tracks is clear. However, we welcome this decision to delay the consideration of the project by at least a year while a wider assessment is undertaken because any independent scientific review would show emphatically that Exmouth Gulf should not be industrialised.

“While postponing the decision is better than imminent construction of the Subsea 7 project, in reality, the community faces further uncertainty,” Gamblin said.

Manyana Conservation Fund launches to save unburnt land Manyana Matters Environmental Association (MMEA) is pleased to announce the launch of the Manyana Conservation Fund, managed by the charity partner for Australia’s National Parks, the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife (FNPW).

M RYAN FRITZ

anyana Matters Environmental Association (MMEA) is pleased to announce the launch of the Manyana Conservation Fund, managed by the charity partner for Australia’s National Parks, the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife (FNPW).

It is a significant step forward for the community and their supporters, who have been striving for several months to protect a biodiversity hotspot from residential development.

Donations made to the fund will go towards the purchase of unburnt habitat, as well as ongoing conservation and management of native forest in and around Manyana, a region on the south coast of New South Wales.

As the fundraising partner, FNPW will provide a platform for donations to be

made securely by the Australian community in support of the cause.

FNPW’s Chief Executive Officer, Ian Darbyshire, says that there has never been a more important time to conserve what remains of Australia’s natural environment, particularly following the horrific bushfires of 2019-20.

“Now more than ever we are committed to healing our land. We lost so much in the devastating bushfires, so every single tree, plant and animal plays a vital role in healing our damaged habitats and landscapes.

“We’re proud to support the Manyana community to protect our natural environment for the generations to come,” Mr Darbyshire said.

MMEA President, Bill Eger, says that he is delighted to have the support of such an experienced and respected national body.

“The Foundation has achieved some important milestones over the past 50 years in conserving Australia’s wilderness and

wildlife. Having them onboard as a fundraising partner is a major step forward in our campaign to save the Manyana forest,” Mr Eger said.

The launch of the Manyana Conservation Fund coincides with a public commitment by NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes to make a contribution to the purchase of the 20 hectares of native forest in Manyana slated to become a housing

development.

Mr Eger says the timing could not be better. “This Fund gives our community and supporters the opportunity to show Minister Stokes we’re willing to be part of saving this forest forever.

“Our vision is to turn this beautiful habitat into a nature reserve honouring the human and animal lives lost in the Currowan megafire. This fund is another big step towards achieving this.

“The next piece in the puzzle is a commitment of a contribution from Shoalhaven City Council. It’s time for our councillors to represent the interests of the community who elected them,” Mr Eger added.

Donations to the Manyana Conservation Fund can be made at: https:// support.fnpw.org.au/FNPW/Fundraising/FNPW-Gift-Items/Help-FNPW-protect-Manyana-forest.aspx

16 THE ADVOCATE

INTERNATIONAL

UNICEF: Yemen now facing “worst humanitarian crisis in the world” KATHY KIM

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ive years of civil war has left Yemen decimated since March 2015, where children have become the most vulnerable collateral damage in a war fought by adults. The onset of COVID-19 in Yemen means they face a pandemic with alarming shortages in clean water and soap, on top of existing epidemics of cholera and vaccine-preventable diseases.

UNICEF released a report in June describing Yemen as the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”. Over 35 frontlines remain active across the country as violence persistently blights lives, leaving 12.3 million children in desperate need of humanitarian aid. A global pandemic is just one emergency layered upon the reality that Yemen’s health services are on the verge of collapse as 10.2 million children do not have access to basic healthcare and health workers are going unpaid for 3 years amidst a ravaged economy.

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health revealed that more than 6,600 children under the age of five in Yemen could die over the next six months from preventable conditions such as diarrhea, respiratory tract infections and malnutrition, as COVID-19 weakens already fragile health systems and disrupts life-saving services.

UNICEF is currently the world’s largest development. humanitarian response program in Yemen, Dwyer argued that the solution is twowhere the very services keeping children fold. First, a longer-term peace resolution alive are facing an economic crisis. must be sought. In the meantime, urgent Yemen suffered the world’s worst humanitarian programs need to be concholera outbreak in April 2017 with more tinued in the communities. than 2.39 million suspected cases and “We need every country in the world, over 3,795 deaths. The disease remains all of the global community, to make pervasive today, where a quarter of those sure that we continue to advocate for a affected are children under the age of five peaceful solution to the war in Yemen years old. and making sure that the experiences of Vaccine-preventchildren are given able diseases such as the attention that “Jabra is seven years old. She is diphtheria and meathey deserve,” Dwsles have resurged learning the correct way to wash her yer said. in waves over the “While that hands. She is also learning about past five years. Due takes place, we Coronavirus. She is learning how to to the coronavirus need to be able to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, and pandemic, current what to do if someone is infected with keep providing disruptions in global [children] with it.” supply chains pose the life-saving a threat to vital vacassistance that’s cination campaigns, as much-needed vials keeping them alive. And for that, we may never reach the country. need funding.”

Plagued by one the world’s worst A global pandemic amidst a civil war food crises, 2 million children under the poses an emergency on top of an already age of five are malnourished, including dire situation in Yemen, where children life-threatening severe acute malnutrition. with devastating odds to survive have Chronic malnutrition has stunted 45% gone ignored for half a decade. What’s of children under the age of five, leaving left is the perfect storm as COVID-19 them too short for their age and with threatens to wipe out a vulnerable health irreparable damage to their cognitive system in a country where clean water and soap have been scarce for years.

UNICEF spokesperson Harriet Dwyer reflected on how Yemen has long been a forgotten war in the political consciousness of world leaders and the wider global populace.

“People really haven’t acknowledged the gravity of the situation there for many, many years, but we all have a responsibility to,” Dwyer said.

“I know everyone is facing chaos and crisis in their own countries right now, but the scale of suffering there needs the world to pay attention.”

You can still give to the Yemen Appeal: https://www.unicef.org.au/ appeals/help-children-in-yemen.

Image Credit: UNICEF in Yemen (Photo taken in Sana’a by Dhia Al-Adimi)

WFP’s Nobel Peace Prize h of battling hunger amid C

T

World Vision Australia

he awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Programme (WFP) is a greatly deserved acknowledgement of the organisation’s work to combat hunger and foster peace in the world’s most vulnerable communities.

The accolade also highlights the Herculean task for aid organisations currently combatting hunger and malnutrition fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic that is ravaging livelihoods worldwide.

World Vision Australia acting CEO Graham Strong said as a partner of the WFP for 30 years – and its largest implementing partner for the past 16 years – World Vision was delighted by such a highly respected recognition of the WFP’s work.

“We partner with the WFP in many of the world’s toughest places, where the meal children receive through our school feeding programme is often their only source of nutrition,” Mr Strong said.

Government’s decision to deepen worsening crisis, s

A

Refugee Council of Australia

coalition of refugee organisations has condemned the federal government’s decision to slash support to people seeking asylum in the 2020-21 Budget.

This decision, they say, puts over 100 000 people, including around 16 000 children, at further risk of homelessness and destitution.

The organisations, which represent a coalition of over 200 others, have been running the Nobody Left Behind campaign since May this year. The campaign has repeatedly called for ongoing support to be provided to 100,000 people seeking asylum who have been left without lifelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic fallout.

The Budget, however, not only failed to

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INTERNATIONAL not act quickly and substantially, it will take organisations like ours decades, not years, to help these people recover.”

BACKGROUND Between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019 alone, the WFP-World Vision partnership reached 10.7 million of the world’s most vulnerable, across 29 countries. More than 50 per cent of beneficiaries were children. Of the WFP’s support, 70 per cent was used to improve the lives of children and their families in the top 10 fragile contexts where World Vision works.

World Vision CEO welcomes Del Irani as Goodwill Ambassador

highlights mammoth task COVID crisis “Hunger robs children of their potential, gnaws away at hope, plunges millions into an uncertain future and can also fuel conflict in vulnerable communities.

“But working alongside the WFP, I’ve seen children’s lives transformed with more energetic, happier students, better results and a chance to succeed in life.”

Mr Strong said he hoped the award would shine a light on the growing task of combatting hunger as the COVID crisis cruels family incomes and complicates the logistics of food supply.

“Earlier this year the WFP warned the number of people facing acute food insecurity was likely to double from 135 million to 265 million in 2020, due mostly to COVID-19 which has compounded the impact of conflicts, poverty and climate-related shocks.

“If governments of advanced economies and the world’s mega-wealthy – many of whom have prospered under COVID – do

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orld Vision Acting CEO, Graham Strong, welcomed award-winning journalist and presenter, Del Irani, as the organisation’s newest goodwill ambassador in October.

“We’re excited to announce that Del Irani will be working with us to raise awareness of our work with children in some of the world’s most dangerous and hard-to-reach places,” Mr Strong said.

“Del Irani’s background and insights make her an ideal global champion for our work, shining a light on the work that our teams do in working alongside local communities. Her public profile is also a wonderful platform to give a voice to the forgotten, ignored, marginalised and disadvantaged members of our global society.”

Ms Irani was born in India and regularly visits her home. She is eager to use her storytelling skills to empower women and children to break the cycle of poverty.

“My ultimate goal as Goodwill Ambassador is to inform, educate and empower people to participate in the global projects

by World Vision Australia,” Ms Irani said.

“Ms Irani’s relationship with World Vision began by participating in initiatives like the 40-hour famine.”

slash support for people seeking asylum will say refugee organisations provide support during this time of crisis, but halved the existing amount allocated for support for this group. This indicates that more people will be excluded from support and left without a safety net over the coming 12 months.

The Federal Government’s recent decision to release people brought to Australia for medical care into the community, cutting them off from support in the process, is an indication of this, already increasing this cohort by 500 people. They are now expected to find work in the middle of a recession, despite many having ongoing serious health issues, a lack of professional networks and/or a low level of English, having been denied access to English language programs.

People seeking asylum are ineligible for JobSeeker and JobKeeper and many were

cut off from the SRSS payment when the government changed the eligibility criteria in 2018. Thousands have lost work since the start of the pandemic, particularly given they are largely employed on temporary and casual contracts in heavily impacted industries, such as hospitality.

Excluded from most federal government support, many have relied on charities and others in their community to eat and pay the rent. Crucially, many have only been able to maintain property rentals thanks to state and territory moratoriums on rental evictions, which have recently ended in most of Australia.

Service providers across the country have reported at least a 300% increase in the need for emergency food and rental relief for people seeking asylum since the pandemic began. This demand has only in-

Cable internet brings both opportunities and risks to millions of children and young people in the Pacific, new report reveals

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ChildFund Australia

hildFund Australia, Plan International Australia and the Young & Resilient Research Centre of Western Sydney University released a ground-breaking new report in October that shows how the rollout of cable internet systems across the Pacific opens up unprecedented learning opportunities for children but also exposes them to new risks of harm.

The organisations have joined forces to launch the Online Safety in the Pacific report, in order to fill the research gap and map the challenges and opportunities the onset of new cable internet technology presents for children in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea.

Among the children surveyed for the report, 77% said the risk of accessing inappropriate content such as horror movies and pornography, was their greatest fear, followed by cyber-bullying (38%), while parents and carers identified a lack of control over what children were accessing as their greatest fear.

Participants in the study generally believe girls are more at risk than boys to online abuse and less capable of managing risk, leading to girls’ access to online spaces being limited by their parents.

“The Pacific is home to some of the highest rates of sexual and physical violence against women and girls anywhere in the world and this is now being reflected in the online space. These fears are also limiting girls’ access to online opportunities,” Susanne Legena, CEO of Plan International Australia, said.

“As Australia invests in the Coral Sea Cable to promote greater internet connectivity it must also invest in combatting the growing risk of online child sexual exploita-

creased as time has passed. Even in states which have maintained a low level of virus transmission, the demand has continued to grow as people have been unable to regain former employment, with charities unable to sustain the level of need. Emergency relief committed by state and federal governments falls short of providing people with the support needed to pay for rent and food until the crisis passes.

A recent report predicted that almost 19,000 refugees and people seeking asylum would lose their jobs in the course of the economic downturn, and that unemployment in this cohort would double. The report predicted that as a result, 14,000 people seeking asylum would become homeless. The report outlines significant social and economic costs for the country as a result, including a potential bill of $200 million/year for state governments.

With fresh cuts announced last month, the number of people affected will only increase.

tion, grooming and cyber-bullying in the Pacific. Now is the time to act, to invest in the protective frameworks and programs that will prevent children and young people from being harmed online.

“The levels of violence and abuse against children, and in particular women and girls, are already disproportionately high in the Pacific Islands. Without proper investment and planning, it could be exacerbated by increased uptake of digital technologies,” she said.

This research will inform ChildFund Australia and Plan International Australia’s child protection work across the region into the future. It will build on existing programs that increase the self-protective behaviours of children, equip parents to be partners in online safety and provide governments with tools required to prevent and respond to online abuse and exploitation.

“The opportunities that connectivity provides are paramount for children and young people across the Pacific. However, we must be vigilant in taking adequate measures to keep them safe. A single response will not combat the far-reaching risks and impacts of the online world. A whole of community approach, which empowers children and their families to safety navigate the online world is crucial,” Margaret Sheehan, CEO of ChildFund International, said.

ChildFund Australia and Plan International Australia consider this work as urgent given the convergence of the onset of the COVID-19 and the arrival of cable internet across the Pacific.

Paul Power, CEO of the Refugee Council, said: “Australia is at risk of an impending homelessness crisis, which the Federal Government has failed to prevent. Since the pandemic hit, we – and many others – have repeatedly warned our political leaders of the impact that this is having on refugees and people seeking asylum.”

18 THE ADVOCATE

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Your opinion matters Suicide commissioner a vital step for veteran support

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ates4Mates has welcomed new legislation from the Government, bringing the establishment of a National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention one step closer.

At Mates4Mates, we see first-hand the impact of mental health issues on veterans and their families, and the risk of suicide, and will continue to support steps being taken to combat this.

Over the past year the discussion and awareness around suicide among veterans has been gaining momentum, locally and nationally, but we know there’s still more work to be done in this space to ensure suicides are reduced.

Right now, the need is more important than ever, with some veterans experiencing increased levels of distress and isolation due to COVID-19.

No one – military personnel, veterans, or everyday Australians – should have to go through mental illness alone and our thoughts remain with all families and individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide.

At Mates4Mates, we will continue to work hard to support veterans and their families and we encourage locals to reach out in times of need.

For support, phone Mates4Mates on 1300 462 837, speak with a trusted GP, or call Open Arms or Lifeline.

Shark nets were a passionate topic for followers on Facebook

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et rid of shark nets, baited hooks etc. Use up-to-date technology that does not endanger ocean life. I have surfed, scuba dived, and gone swimming in Great White waters in South Australia. I accept the risks. Frankly, I was more scared of falling asleep at the wheel driving home. ~ Robert

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agree. You just don’t swim when it’s feeding time... Nets don’t protect you. Not even from jellyfish. ~ Shelley

iven the amount of shark attacks in the past few years there needs to be something done. I care more about humans than sharks. ~ Garry

We spoke to the people working

Our story on the mismanagement

on improving mental health

of the Murray Darling Basin caused

outcomes for men who live in the

a torrent of comments online.

bush. Reactions to the story online.

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he Coronavirus has subjected the rest of us to what the country folk may be feeling. Isolation and the loss of our social contacts and outlets, and the loss of our jobs, has resulted in a lower sense of peace and self-esteem. ~ Rosalie

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he problem is: men don’t talk when it comes to mental health issues. This has to stop.

Holding it in isn’t good. ~ Lawrence

Want to write a Letter-to-the-Editor or submit an opinion piece?

Editor: Ryan Fritz Email: editor@theadvocate.org.au

Troy Watson CEO, Mates4Mates

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he Murray river has run dry many times in its past, and it will run dry again. It was only after settlement when dams and weirs were built that its flow became more stable. ~ Pat he Coorong never received its fresh water from the Murray Darling Basin system, but from the South East unconfined aquifer. Now that is a massive stuff up. The aquifer also flowed into the Lower Lakes, which sustained the fresh water reed beds. 160 years of drainage work and over extraction stuffed up the aquifer. ~ Darren

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e need a Royal Commission into water (management) now.

~ Stephen

THE MOST IMPORTANT MO THAT YOU’LL EVER GROW

RACHEL CARR

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EXCLUSIVE

Movember

f there’s ever been a time to embrace Movember and shed those lockdown beards, it’s now, in 2020. It’s been an incredibly difficult time for the men in our lives, and that’s why this year’s campaign is our most important, yet.

What 2020 has brought to the surface is the fragility of our mental health. We’re witnessing how experiencing stress and anxiety is more the norm, a reflection of our common humanity. It’s the great equaliser. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) quietly announced last week that the already staggering suicide rate was higher in 2019 than it’s been in over a decade, and this was pre-COVID. We’re now losing seven men a day, on average, to suicide.

That’s 2,500 dads, brothers, partners and mates each year. It’s an absolutely unacceptable number.

I imagine most Australians reading this, at some point in their life, have had a loved one, a friend or a colleague, impacted by mental health or suicide, prostate cancer or testicular cancer.

Personally, I’ve seen first-hand the impact on the men in my life – from my dad and partner to my brother and mates.

I’ve also listened to hundreds of stories, and each and every one serves as a powerful reminder of why the work we do is so important.

Men like 39-year-old Simon Hilton, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer first at age 17 and then again two years ago, at 37. He was able to connect with the guys from Movember’s True North community when he needed them most. Community Ambassador Dan Price, came close to taking his own life in 2014. This month, Dan’s challenging himself with an epic 126km run in Sydney (in one day), to raise awareness around men’s mental health.

We’ve been tackling these health issues since 2003 by funding game-changing research, cancer treatments and mental health and suicide prevention programs that have saved and changed lives.

This year, despite the world around

us rapidly shifting and pivoting, I’ve had even more reasons to be proud - including when we piloted surf therapy sessions in bushfire-ravaged Mallacoota.

We’ve also fast-tracked Movember Conversations - a free online ‘conversation simulator’ to kickstart conversations with men who might be struggling.

What’s important now, is making sure programs like these reach as many men as possible. While I could name a million reasons to join me in the hairy month, I know that nothing brings people together more than bonding over a newly sprouted Mo. You not only raise funds, you have a damn good time doing it.

The other great news?

Research commissioned by Movember (MyGov) and released this week, shows us those who participate in the hairy month, are also adopting Movember’s health recommendations to improve their own wellbeing.

Around 44% of Mo Bros said they had confided in a friend about their problems,

compared with 20% from the general male population (GMP).

56% of Mo Bros over 45 have spoken to their doctor about their prostate cancer risk in the past year, compared with 25% of 45s in GMP. Among the under 45s, more than 65% of Mo Bros have checked their testicles at least once in the last year, compared with 23% of the GMP. Whether you Grow, take the Move challenge, Host some mates or Mo your Own Way - know that you’ll be making a real difference in the lives of our men. Havin’ fun, doin’ good.

And I know we could all do with a little fun this month.

The funds our Mo community raise this month will continue to drive the life-saving work we do, here in Australia - and globally. That’s pretty powerful.

In our 17th year, with all the challenges we’ve had to navigate so far, I truly believe this is the most important Mo you’ll ever grow.

Rachel Carr is Australia’s Country Director for Movember

www.theadvocate.org.au

THE ADVOCATE 19

OPINION & ANALYSIS

OPINION Tony Stewart

Ending polio can help us fight other threats like COVID-19 UNICEF Australia

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he worldwide pandemic that we are collectively experiencing right now makes it easy to forget the unfinished fight against another virus. One that has affected humanity for thousands of years, can cause paralysis and death, and for which we have an effective vaccine - the fight to end polio.

On 29 October, it will have been 20 years since Australia was declared polio free, but in other parts of the world this disease continues to impact the world’s youngest (it mainly affects children under 5) and hardest to reach. Polio is the only other disease apart from COVID-19 that is designated as a current Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Wild polio is now endemic only in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a credit to the incredible work by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), in which UNICEF leads the procurement and delivery of billions of vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable children. We have gone from 350,000 cases annually in 1988 to just 176 reported cases in 2019.

When I joined UNICEF Australia as CEO, I visited our New York office and was introduced to a fellow Australian in the polio team. He had a framed black and white photo of a young man on his desk which I guessed to be himself or his father. He spoke with huge passion about ending polio once and for all. This fellow Australian was Rod Curtis, former polio coordinator in the UNICEF Polio Eradication Unit and the photo on his desk, I later learned, was of his uncle Ronnie - one of the victims of Australia’s 1953 polio outbreak.

Rod’s personal connection to polio inspired his passion for its eradication. His story has been hugely inspiring to me over the years and reminds me that polio was as much of a threat as COVID-19 in Australia not long ago.

During the Queen’s visit to Perth in 1954, some might recall the banning of handshakes and physical distancing requirements of placing flower bouquets an appropriate distance away. These restrictions are now all too familiar in our COVID-19 world, with UNICEF preparing to lead the procurement and supply of the biggest and fastest immunisation operation of its kind, once a vaccine is found Unlike COVID-19, we already have a successful and proven vaccine for polio. It has eliminated 99.9% of cases globally. The GPEI has delivered more than 10 billion doses of the oral vaccine to nearly three billion children worldwide since 2000.

Vaccine teams go house to house, across mountains and rivers, into urban slums

Every year, two to three million deaths are prevented thanks to life-saving vaccines. IMAGE SOURCEWHO.

and rural villages, all while maintaining the vaccine at the appropriate temperature.

These efforts are driving incredible progress. This year Africa was the fifth of six WHO regions to be declared free of wild polio. Achievements like this inspire us to keep going. They allow us to hope that, collectively, we can control and eradicate viruses like polio.

But this year has also presented setbacks on a scale we haven’t seen before.

Fewer effects of the current pandemic are more damaging than the disruption to global vaccine programs. In May, UNICEF warned that at least 80 million children around the world were not receiving routine immunisations. In Pakistan, every month that programs were delayed, 700,000 newborns missed out on essential vaccinations. Although programs have now restarted, low immunisation coverage means a higher risk of polio spreading. We cannot afford to let the gains of the last few decades unravel.

I am immensely proud that Australia has been a global leader in the fight against polio, investing expertise and essential funding to make this a disease of the past.

The Government’s support has saved millions of children’s lives and enabled us to get to where we are today, but we need to work even harder together to reach the children who are still exposed to this

deadly virus.

We know how to do it, so let’s finish our joint mission to end polio. This success will make us stronger, healthier and better prepared to fight other pandemics, including COVID-19. We urge Australia to continue its leadership towards preventable diseases by championing and funding polio eradication programs. It’s in our strategic health security interest, and it’s the right thing to do for the world’s children.”

Tony Stuart is CEO of UNICEF Australia.

20 THE ADVOCATE

www.theadvocate.org.au

THE ADVOCATE 21

The prominent yet dangerous role of alcohol at major sporting events

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GEORGIA FRANC

s a proud sporting nation, it’s embedded within Aussie culture to crack open a cold one with a few mates whilst watching the AFL Grand Final or indulging in a glass of champagne over the races, however the role alcohol plays in these events has shown to cause potential harms for the community.

In 2013, VicHealth released a report stating that the only places where Australians do not think it is suitable to drink at is church, baby showers, and study groups.

The findings portrayed that 67 percent of young Victorians (aged 16-29 years old) drink at levels that put them at risk of injury from a single drinking occasion.

When compared with older Victorians (aged 30 years and above), only 17 percent of young Victorians thought it was acceptable to be drunk at barbecues at home versus 35 percent of older Victorians.

Regarding being drunk at sporting events, 14 percent of young Victorians thought it was acceptable to be drunk in these environments in comparison to 32 percent of older Victorians.

These findings suggest that older Victorians seek comfort in drinking within the comforts of their own homes and pairing this with the recently eased COVID-19 lockdown, the role of alcohol within the home has played an increasingly central role.

Due to the coronavirus restrictions, the 2020 Victorian sporting calendar has seen drastic changes from the Formula 1 Grand Prix being cancelled, to the Melbourne Cup not allowing spectators, to the AFL Grand Final being held in Queensland for the first time in 123 years.

As a result, Victorians have watched these events live from home, drinking among their loved ones instead of gathering with friends either at the events in person or at other friends’ houses.

Whilst there is an element of fun and excitement in having a drink or two while cheering on a sporting match, there is no denying the problematic relationship between alcohol and sport in Australia.

Addiction treatment centre Turning Point and VicHealth released a joint report in 2011 outlining the alcohol-induced harms occurring at major sporting events, with significantly elevated case numbers of acute alcohol alcohol intoxication found

on on the days of Melbourne Cup and the AFL Grand Final.

The study outlined that there was a significant increase in motor vehicle accidents among youth on the day of the Melbourne Cup, AFL Grand Final and Formula 1 Grand Prix. There was also an increase in alcohol intoxication related ambulance attendances among youth on the day of the Melbourne Cup. The findings also portrayed that there were significant increases in the levels of assaults and family incidents on the days of Melbourne Cup, Formula 1 Grand Prix, AFL Grand Final and international cricket matches.

The Melbourne Cup specifically saw an increase in assaults both in the lead up to the event and on the day of the event, whilst the day preceding the AFL Grand Final and Formula 1 Grand Prix saw elevated assaults for all groups examined except females.

Throughout these major sporting events alcohol advertising and sponsorship is extremely prevalent, normalising individuals to drink to get drunk and then engage in risky behaviours as a result.

Although alcohol will never be banned at these events despite the spike of alcohol-induced harms that occur, organisations such as Turning Point and VicHealth continue to target the prevention, intervention and treatment to reduce the extent of these harms within the community.

Sport legends call on Australian Gov’t to accept NZ’s offer to resettle refugees Peter Siddle launches Pink Stumps Day IMAGE: McGrath Foundation.

Cathy Freeman Foundation

Study shows no reason for whips in racing

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Peter Siddle launches Pink Stumps Day ahead of summer of cricket

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HORSE RACING

RSPCA Australia

SPCA Australia has welcomed a new study that calls into question the use of whips in horse racing, and strengthens the case for whip-free racing.

The peer-reviewed study – published late in October in the journal Animals – effectively debunks traditional arguments by the racing industry, that the whip is needed to maintain “racing integrity” – ensuring every horse has a fair chance of winning – and the safety of riders by helping with steering.

The study of 1,178 starters from 126 races compared stewards reports from

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Amnesty International Australia

59 “whipping-permitted” and 67 “whipping-free” races in the UK, and found no link between the use of whips and fairness or safety in the race.

Specifically, the study compared races that took place over a similar time period, at the same racecourse, the same distance, with the same number of horses, and similar track conditions – meaning the only significant difference was whether or not the whip was used.

For “whipping-free” races, the study examined the “Hands and Heels” series, a series of races for apprentice jockeys where whips cannot be used except to get a reluc-

ormer Australian fast bowler and Tasmanian Tigers recruit, Peter Siddle, was at Lindisfarne Cricket Club in September to officially launch the McGrath Foundation’s summer community fundraising initiative, Pink Stumps Day. Pink Stumps Day is one of many initiatives for the upcoming cricket season at community level, with most competitions commencing in September, October and November around the country.

Last year, 360 cricket clubs made up more than 600 teams who took part in Pink Stumps Day, raising $682,000.

Recently appointed as the official Pink Stumps Day 2020/21 Ambassador through the longstanding partnership between Cricket Australia and the McGrath Foundation, Siddle called on people across Australia to register a cricket game this summer to support people with breast cancer.

“With 55 people diagnosed with breast cancer every day, Pink Stumps Day plays an integral role in raising funds for McGrath Breast Care Nurses who provide vital support to people with breast cancer and their families for free. This year with COVID-19 stopping many of the Foundation’s fundraising events the campaign is more important than ever,” Siddle said.

While the official Pink Stumps Day isn’t until Saturday, 6 February, people can hold an event at any time by registering at: www.pinkstumpsday.com.au

tant horse moving at the start of the race, or for safety reasons.

“The study has given us a chance to test a really culturally entrenched assumption about whip use in racing,” lead researcher, Dr Kirrilly Thompson from the University of South Australia, said.

“There’s an assumption that whipping horses is important for the safety of riders.

There’s also a belief that whipping horses makes them go faster. But no one’s actually tested these things before,” Dr Thompson said.

“We found that whipping doesn’t work, and in particular, whipping doesn’t make horses run any faster. There were no significant differences between movement on course, interference on course, incidents related to jockey behaviour, or race

ormer All Black and NRL superstar, Sonny Bill Williams, and former Socceroo, Craig Foster (pictured above), have joined forces to call on the Australian Government to finally accept the offer made by New Zealand in 2013 to resettle refugees stuck on Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

As more than 65,000 signatures from the #GameOver campaign to get refugees stuck offshore to safety were handed over to two Parliamentarians, Craig Foster said: “We’ve come to Canberra to call on the Australian Government to finally accept the New Zealand offer to resettle 150 refugees a year. There are still just under 300 people stranded on PNG and Nauru and as the deal with the US is about to come to an end it is more urgent than ever we get these refugees to safety as soon as possible.

“Australians across the country have been asking for this for many years. The mental and physical anguish these people have suffered has been terrible and it’s time for the Australian Government to do the right thing and accept the New Zealand offer.”

Sonny Bill Williams said: “New Zealand has a proud resettlement history. Since the Second World War it has resettled over 35,000 refugees. This is not about politics, this is about a few hundred refugees who have suffered for too long and who are in need of a solution. New Zealand has offered to provide that solution, Australia should accept.””

finishing times. We can’t find anything to recommend the use of whips,” she said.

RSPCA Australia Chief Scientist, Dr Bidda Jones, said there was no good reason to defend the use of the whip in horse racing.

“We know that the public no longer supports whipping horses – for example, a recent poll found 69% of Victorians think horses should not be whipped in the normal course of a race, and 71% of Victorians who attend or bet on horse racing would continue to do so if whips were banned,” Dr Jones said.

Racing Australia rules currently allow a horse to be whipped five times prior to the final stage of a race, and then an unlimited number of times during the last 100 metres.

CHANGING LIVES THROUGH SPORT

22 THE ADVOCATE

Pass it Back: Supporting every child’s right to play, learn & grow ChildFund is recognised as a Pioneer Organisation in the International Safeguards for Children & Sport. Credit: ChildFund

ChildFund and Oceania Rugby expand partnership to keep everyone safe in rugby across the region ChildFund Australia

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he wellbeing of young people participating in sport has become an increasing focus among International Sports Federations and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It has recognised the importance of establishing policies and procedures to ensure children and adults participating in sport activities at all levels are safe from all types of harm and abuse.

As a Regional Association of World Rugby, Oceania Rugby is committed to ensuring rugby is a safe sport for everyone across the

region both on and off the field.

The Safeguarding in Sport Project was first launched in late 2019, with ChildFund providing technical expertise, tools, training and support to Oceania Rugby to build safeguarding systems in-line with international best practice.

Oceania Rugby General Manager Bruce Cook said that rugby is committed to providing a positive and high quality experience in all forms and at all levels of the game that starts with a foundation of safety.

“Working with ChildFund, Oceania Rugby is committed to establishing a culture and sys-

tems that prioritise safeguarding for all participants, and equally, we are committed in supporting our Member Unions to do the same,” Cook said.

ChildFund Sport for Development Director Chris Mastaglio said: “Oceania Rugby’s determination to build an environment and supporting systems where all players – but particularly children – can thrive and feel safe is to be commended.

“We are really excited to be continuing our partnership with Oceania Rugby and their Member Unions in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Samoa and Solomon Islands to ensure

that everyone engaging in rugby across the region will benefit from a safer environment, both physically and emotionally .”

The Safeguarding in Sport Project builds on learning and resources developed by ChildFund Australia through work with more than 30 sports organisations around the world.

ChildFund is recognised as a Pioneer Organisation in the International Safeguards for Children in Sport in 2017 and was awarded the UNICEF Safeguarding Children in Sport Award at the Beyond Sport Global Awards.

Learn more: www.childfundpassitback.org/